In the 12 months to the end of June, 8843 criminal offences were recorded in Greater Shepparton according to the most recent crime statistics released by the Crime Statistics Agency.
When taking into account the number of offences per 100,000 of the estimated resident population, Shepparton sat below Melbourne, Latrobe, Yarra and Mildura for recorded crimes.
Crimes in Shepparton were up from 8810 in the previous 12 months.
Breaches of family violence orders accounted for the largest number of recorded offences in Great Shepparton, with 1386 recorded in the past 12 months.
This was up 102 on the number of incidents reported the previous year.
The biggest percentage increase, however, came from thefts from vehicles, with a 28 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
This year’s statistics show 738 thefts from vehicles, compared to 576 the previous year.
Breaches of bail were also on the increase this year, up from 317 to 415.
Criminal damage, however, fell slightly to 677 cases from 682, while other thefts were also down — from 565 to 548.
Of this year’s reported crimes, 4401 occurred in Shepparton and 774 in Mooroopna.
Kialla had the next highest crime rate, with 298 crimes, while Tatura recorded 178.
Shepparton police Acting Inspector Dean Williams said the results from the past 12 months showed a slight 0.4 per cent decrease in the number of reported offences.
“Ultimately it’s a bit of a plateau,” he said.
In some areas there were slight increases, while in others there were slight decreases.
“We’re steadily seeing some decreases … but we can’t rest on our laurels.
“We need to keep working… to drive down the criminal offences.”
With theft from motor vehicles seeing the highest percentage increase of any crimes in the past year, Insp Williams is pleading with people to lock their cars.
“Our theft from vehicles increase is significant,” he said.
“A lot (of these thefts) are due to vehicles being unlocked and people leaving valuables in sight.
“Our data indicates it is opportunistic crime.
“We’d all love to live in an environment where people don’t have to lock their vehicles.
“The stark reality is you have to lock them.
“If people remove their valuables, that will drive that down.”
Insp Williams noted that the recent crime statistics includes the first COVID-19 lockdown, which saw a plateau in some offences with people staying at home more.
While breaches of family violence orders increased in the past year, the total number of family violence incidents have decreased by 5.4 per cent on the previous year.
Insp Williams said police had focused on family violence, however he thought it was still under-reported to police.
“We still suspect many people, through fear, don’t report family violence,” he said.
“We want people to have the confidence to report it.”