The Cardinia Shire has recorded a fall in the total amount of criminal incidents recorded over the past year due to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) data released on Thursday 16 June, by the year ending March 2022, Cardinia Shire recorded 4618 criminal incidents – a decrease of 17 per cent compared with the same time last year (when 5563 incidents were recorded).
The decrease was driven by a reduction in breaches of chief health officer directions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
All five of the top principal offences recorded decreased when compared with the same time last year, including theft from a motor vehicle, criminal damage, breach of a family violence order, other thefts and common assault.
In the year ending March 2022, stealing from a motor vehicle was the most recorded criminal incident in the shire (with 507 thefts recorded, down from 533 the previous year).
The second most common incident was criminal damage (with 434 incidents recorded this year) followed by breaching a family violence order (with 455 incidents recorded this year), other thefts (with 354 incidents) and common assault (with 300 incidents).
Pakenham was the most common place for crime to occur in the shire, with the most criminal incidents occurring at a house.
There were 2742 incidents in Pakenham, a decrease from 3239 recorded in 2021.
Across Victoria, the rate of recorded offences decreased by 11.9 per cent to 7048 per 100,000 Victorians in the last 12 months, as did the number of offences, down 11.5 per cent to 470,405.
CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said changes to Covid-19 responses drove Victorian crime measures down in the last 12 months.
“Decreases in acquisitive crime such as thefts and deception have also contributed to decreases in key crime measures, following trends seen throughout the pandemic period,” Ms Dowsley said.
For more information about the latest crime data, go to crimestatistics.vic.gov.au
