Police vow to meet the challenge of ‘unacceptable’ crime rate as retail thefts soar

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Crime across Victoria has jumped to “unacceptable” levels, propelled by soaring rates of theft and repeat youth offenders.

New data released by the Crime Statistics Agency on Thursday shows that recorded offences in the state have increased by more than 15 per cent in the year ending June 30, an increase of 86,587 offences.

A security guard confronts a man for stealing at Coles Prahran.

The five fastest growing crimes are dominated by theft: stealing from cars, theft of cars, shoplifting and broader robbery offences. The fifth-highest crime was family violence.

Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill promised police were working on new approaches to deter crime and said they had set an ambitious target to reduce serious and violent crime by 5 per cent each year.

“As a society, we simply cannot allow the level of crime we are seeing to become normalised and accepted – every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their home, within the community and on the roads,” Hill said.

“Right now we are working on new approaches that will deter repeat offenders and help stop these crimes before they can occur. This includes a focus on how we can get more police out on the streets.

“There is no doubt this will be a challenge, but it is a fight we are up for to ensure our community remains as safe as possible.”

As previously reported by The Age, Victoria now accounts for almost 35 per cent of Australia’s total retail crime incidents, recording 60 per cent more incidents than any other state, according to the Australian Retailers Association.

That is backed by Thursday’s crime statistics, which reveal thefts from retail stores have increased by almost 42 per cent. More than 20,400 incidents were recorded in the year to June 30, highlighting the ongoing crisis of abuse, violence, theft and knife crime faced by retail workers.

The rate of aggravated home burglaries also remains stubbornly high, with more than 7850 home invasions recorded in the 12 months to the end of June compared to 6454 the previous year. Car keys are the most common item targeted by thieves.

Home invasions, robberies and car theft remain the crime of choice for repeat and violent young offenders.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Police Minister Anthony Carbines and Assistant Police Commissioner Brett Curran launching machete amnesty bins in July.

Acting Superintendent Scott Dwyer said police had arrested 654 offenders a combined 1700 times in the past 12 months as part of Operation Trinity, a dedicated nighttime operation targeting aggravated burglaries and car theft.

“What we’ve found is that there is still a core group of repeat offenders who are causing the most harm,” Dwyer told ABC Radio on Thursday morning.

“What we’ve seen is that there’s been 112 children who are aged under 17 and another 17 youths who are aged between eight and 24 that have all been arrested three or more times for breaking into homes and stealing cars.”

Knife crime is also a major concern after the fatal ambush of 12-year-old Chol Achiek and 15-year-old Dau Akueng in Cobblebank earlier this month.

Cobblebank stabbing victims Dau Akueng, 15 (left), and Chol Achiek, 12.

According to police intelligence, officers have seized almost 11,000 edged weapons in the year to the end of August.

The figures contain the first batch of bail statistics compiled by the agency and show applications in the Magistrates’ Court have increased by more than 18 per cent in the last 12 months, driven by increased refusals and revocations.

There were also 4300 charges relating to breaches of bail in the reporting period, although it is too early to see the impact of recent amendments to bail laws.

“This initial set of bail statistics collated from multiple agencies is a first step to helping us better understand the impacts of bail or remand decisions on an alleged offender’s pathway through the criminal justice system and further offending,” chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines expressed confidence that a hardening of the state’s bail laws would “ultimately have an effect” on the crime rate but was unable to say when it would come down.

“There are too many victims at this time, there is a crime level that is unacceptable to Victoria police, to the government and to me,” he said.

“Victorian Police and the government are focused on pulling up the crime rate as soon as we can, but part of that is making sure we have the tools to do the job, that we have laws in place that are having an effect, and then some long term strategic work that Victoria Police know they need to do.

“There’s no quick fix here.”

Carbines backed Victoria’s new Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush to reduce the crime rate and improve community safety.

“In the 11 weeks he has been here he has put his stamp on what he thinks the priorities need to be. He’s had a very good look at things, he is very experienced over decades of service and leading organisations, he knows what needs to be done and he’s going to drive that change.”

Family violence incidents increased by almost 8 per cent in the past 12 months, with 102,427 incidents recorded across the state. Last year alone, Victoria Police arrested 8635 family violence offenders a combined 16,148 times.

But while the rates of incidents soared, fewer intervention orders were made, charges decreased and unsolved cases also increased.