Drug offences have hit a four-year low in Ballarat, according to the latest crime data released on Thursday.
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Police say a focus on targeting high-level dealers is paying off, with the worst drug offenders being taken off the streets.
Data from the Crime Statistics Agency in the year to September show the overall rate of drug offences decreased by more than 100 from 479 in 2016 to 357.7 in 2017 per 100,000 population in the local government area.
The rate of cultivate or manufacture drug offences had the sharpest drop from 43.3 offences in 2016 to 18.1 in 2017, while the rate of drug use and possession decreased from 382.8 offences to 288.2 in the same time.
Ballarat Local Area Commander Inspector Dan Davison said the statistics reflected the police’s increasing response to drug offences by targeting high-level dealers, which he said was far more resource intensive than specifically targeting the lower level street dealer.
“While the raw numbers aren’t as high or dramatic, the bigger dealers are taken off the streets, which makes a bigger difference to the harm on our community,” Inspector Davison said.
“There are a number of these higher level dealers before the courts right now.”
As an intelligence-led organisation, Inspector Davison urged people who had information on drug trafficking to contact police by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
One of the sharpest increases in the data for Ballarat was the rate of abduction and related offences, which nearly tripled, rising from 11.5 offences in 2016 to 34.2 offences in 2017.
Inspector Davison said the rise in these offences could be attributed directly to family violence, but said police were committed to working with partner agencies to put an end to family violence.
Meanwhile, the tireless work of Ballarat detectives in targeting repeating offenders has been reflected in the downturn of burglary offences in the past year, Inspector Davison said.
“While we are happy to have a number of recidivist offenders off the street, it is a timely reminder to let the public know that they can assist us by ensuring that their properties and valuables are secure, particularly over the coming holiday period,” he said.
While Inspector Davison was “relatively happy” the region’s statistics had remained quite flat overall, he said police could always do more.
“Through initiatives such as the Your Voice Community Engagement Strategy we are hearing directly from the public in relation to what their safety concerns are,” he said.
“We will be shortly analysing this information and working on how we can address the themes that come from this valuable feedback.”