By Corey Everitt
Cardinia’s rate of criminal incidents was almost a third higher in 2024 than it was in 2023 including a near doubling of car thefts reported in the year, new crime stats have revealed.
New quarterly data from the Crime Statistics Agency show there were 6,457 criminal incidents recorded in Cardinia over the year ending December 2024, which is a 29.5 per cent increase as opposed to 2023’s 4,963 total.
Recorded offences across the State increased by 13.2 per cent.
“The overall crime rates in Victoria are totally unacceptable,“ Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Bob Hill said.
“The sad reality is that more crime equates to more victims involving members of community, who in some cases, will be impacted for life.
2024 is the first year to break past the 2020 peak in incidents with a 4,940 per 100,000 rate.
This is still lower than the rate recorded in 2015 and lower than the past decade’s peak in 2016 with a 5,511 rate.
There were 8,992 total offenses recorded by Cardinia police in 2024 which is a 26.5 increase compared to 2023.
Theft from a motor vehicle almost doubled in 2024 reaching beyond a thousand incidents of car theft in one year. Where there were 586 thefts from a motor vehicle in 2023, there were 1,029 in 2024.
“Highly difficult economic times are also having a significant impact on crime, with financial pressures a common cause for family violence, while more people are resorting to stealing from shops to feed and clothe themselves and their family,“ Deputy Commissioner Hill said.
This total mostly doubles the other most common incidents such as criminal damage, other thefts and breaches of family violence orders.
Over half of all incidents occurred in Pakenham with a total of 3,595, that’s over 700 more incidents in town compared to 2023.
Officer had 1,065 incidents, Beaconfield had 342, Kooweerup had 212 and Cockatoo at 175.
The rate of alleged offenders in Cardinia jumped by 40 percent. From 2,094 alleged offenders in 2023 to 2,936 in 2024.
The most common age group was between 30 to 34 years old. A total of 521, there were 220 more alleged offenders in this age group in 2024 compared to 2023.
481 alleged offenders were between the ages of 10 and 17, and 435 were between the ages of 18 and 24. This is an increase of 127 and 82 from 2023, respectively.
Cardinia Police responded to 25.5 percent more incidents of family violence in 2024 compared to 2023.
Cardinia’s rate of family violence is just about above the state-wide rate at 1,524 per 100,000 as compared to 1,503 across Victoria.
In criminal incidents, Cardinia is below the Victorian rate of 6,550 per 100,000.
