BALLARAT continues to have one of the highest residential burglaries rates in the state.
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However, the rate of burglary offences has declined in the past 12 months along with the overall crime rate.
In statistics released by the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency on Thursday, Ballarat recorded 811 residential burglaries per 100,000 people between April 2014 and March 2015.
A comparable sized regional city, Greater Bendigo recorded almost half our rate with 381. Melbourne recorded 496 and Greater Geelong recorded 617 while the states average rate was 520.
Mildura (919), Greater Shepparton (906), Yarra (825) and Darebin (825) recorded higher rates of residential burglaries.
In other CSA data sets Ballarat is ranked 14th in the state for the number of burglary offences.
Ballarat Police Inspector Bruce Thomas said the figures weren’t flattering.
*Zoom, click or tap on your council area to see the burglary rate. SOURCE: Crime Statistics Agency.
“Ballarat is the second largest rural city in Victoria, it has a diverse population and is not without it’s problems,” Inspector Thomas said.
“We are aware of the problems and the number of contributors to the problem and are working hard with our partner agencies to drive crime down.”
Inspector Thomas said unemployment, low socio-economic status and drug problems contributed to the problem.
“We have dedicated resources in our burglary team and recidivist team who are working really well,” he said.
He assured the community that Ballarat was a safe place to live.
“Ballarat is a very safe place to live, it always has been,” he said.
Inspector Thomas encouraged residents to remain vigilant and lock up.
The data also found Ballarat’s overall offence rate per 100,000 population had decreased by 3.6 per cent between April 2014 and March 2015.
Inspector Thomas said police were working to ensure the rate continued to decline.
“We have a recidivist unit working extremely hard and detectives working very hard targeting recidivist offenders,” he said.
“While the crime rate per 100,000 population is down, it is still a concern.”
The CSA data also found in the Ballarat LGA between April 2012 and March 2015:
- The number of assaults dropped from 1013 to 782 offences.
- Drug possession and use increased from 171 to 421 offences.
- The rate of family incidents increased from 1616 to 1663 per 100,000 population .
Inspector Thomas said family violence was a big issue in Ballarat.
“It’s a very big issue in Ballarat,” he said.
“Ballarat police are committed to policing family violence and eradicating it.”
“And not just police, but the Department of Health and Human Services and support agencies.”
