Crime rises across the board as figures reveal state's crime 'tsunami'
An axe attack in Melbourne has come on the same day as the release of the latest crime figures showing Victoria is now the nation’s murder capital.
The past year has seen a frightening rise in all offences up 60,000 to, to 535, 000.
The opposition says the statistics represent a crime tsunami.
What’s worse than a state-wide crime wave?” Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said.
“A crime tsunami in this state.”
The Premier was more circumspect when responding to a thirteen point four per cent surge in crime in the past year, saying it was the culmination of a “six year trend.
The figures say Victoria is a state of stealers.
Theft has risen 19 per cent on last year, robbery has risen 14 per cent, and burglary and break and enter are up more than 12 per cent.
Family violence has risen 10 per cent.
Many of these crimes are the domain of young criminal gangs like Apex.
“We have got a youth crime issue and these youth criminals often form gangs or groups and Apex is just one of those, it gets a lot of headlines because the name is catchy,” Chief police commissioner Graham Ashton said.
Theft of and from cars makes up the lion’s share of all reported thefts in the past year.
On an average day in Victoria, 150 cars are broken into and 60 are stolen.
Geographically, the Apex gang heartland recorded the highest crime rise.
Greater Dandenong is the area with the biggest rise in reported crimes, up 16 per cent, followed by La Trobe in regional Victoria with a more than eight per cent increase.
And, assaults are up 11 per cent.
More than 41,000 coward punches have been investigated by police in the past year.
But, more than half of those were tied to family violence.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said, “family violence remains a very significant part of our crime and law and order issue that we really need to deal with.”
