By Matthew Sims
Criminal offences jumped by 19.07 per cent in the year to June 2024 across Cardinia to 7823 offences, according to the latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA).
The figures for the period from March 2023 to March 2024 highlighted a 19.68 per cent increase in theft offences recorded across the Cardinia LGA and an 18.9 per cent increase in family violence related common assault.
However, the number of drug possession offences recorded to the year to June 2024 dropped by 18.5 per cent, from 319 to 260 offences.
In terms of the number of alleged young offenders across Cardinia, the number of alleged offenders during the year to June 2024 aged between 10 and 17 fell by 3.25 per cent compared to the year ending June 2023, while the number of alleged offenders aged between 18 and 24 rose by 10.74 per cent.
Pakenham topped the list of offences recorded across Cardinia with a total of 4598 offences recorded, which was a 22.1 per cent increase compared to the year to June 2023.
Significant increases included retail store theft increasing from 187 to 396 offences (up 111.76 per cent), assault and related offences jumping from 413 to 448 offences (up 8.47 per cent), and robbery/break and enter offences rising from 256 to 309 offences (up 20.7 per cent).
However, a number of offence types saw a decrease in reports, including drug possession falling from 208 to 155 (down 25.48 per cent) and property damage offences decreasing slightly from 363 to 357 offences (down 1.7 per cent).
In Officer, the number of recorded offences increased from 952 to 1118 offences, which was a 17.4 per cent increase compared to the year to June 2023.
Significant increases included theft jumping from 388 to 429 offences (up 10.56 per cent) and property damage increasing from 61 to 72 offences (up 18 per cent).
Recorded offences in Nar Nar Goon fell by 21.1 per cent, while Kooweerup’s recorded offences increased by 14.8 per cent from 223 to 256 offences.
