Crime up 2.4pc in region according to Victoria Police

CRIME in the region has lifted 2.4 per cent according to leaked Victoria Police figures.The figures were obtained from the Law Enforcement Assistance Program and yesterday given to the opposition ahead of their official release in August.According to the figures for Region 2, which includes Ballarat, west Melbourne and a large swathe of Western Victoria, the number of recorded offences rose from 78,846 in the 2006/2007 financial year to 80,743 for the 2007/2008 financial year.Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said among other increases was a 25 per cent increase in motor vehicle thefts and an increase of 12.5 per cent in robbery. Mr Baillieu yesterday said the figures were proof the State Government was not doing enough to resource police."The Brumby Government has failed to protect Victorians from violent crime and has not put enough police on the streets," he said. "The premier has a huge budget surplus but still spends the least per head of population of any state on policing."A spokeswoman for Police Minister Bob Cameron referred all inquiries to Victoria Police.A police spokeswoman, Katherine Jess, said the figures had not been verified, and were potentially inaccurate."Victoria Police has always had an open and transparent process for publicly releasing its annual crime figures," she said."This is not something that we have ever hidden behind but we only release the figures once they have been verified and we are comfortable that they are accurate. We are disappointed that this information has been issued, however, it is important to state that the figures are only provisional and they are yet to be verified."Victorian Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Paul Mullett said it was up to the State Government to put more police on the streets."There is no doubt there is a direct connection with the increase of street crime and a lack of police resources on the street. What we are again requesting of the police minister is that he should establish an audit into current police resource levels."