Victoria’s crime rate up due to COVID-19 breaches, youth offending on the rise

Victoria’s crime rate increased by 2.7 per cent over the year to September.

Deputy Commissioner for Regional Operations Rick Nugent said he wasn’t surprised by the increase.

“I was also aware that our victim related crime in the majority of crimes was coming down,” he told Heidi Murphy on 3AW Drive.

The crime rate would have gone down roughly 1.8 per cent, if not for the 30,000 COVID-19 related breaches.

Youth offending continued to be a concern.

“Youth offending if we looked at robberies for example, 54 per cent of robbery offenders we have apprehended are aged 10-17. We have seen an increase in that category of youth offending.

“Many of those youth offenders are connected to gangs.”

Key statistics:

• Family violence increased 7.5 per cent
• Robberies fell 12 per cent
• Thefts were down 8.6 per cent

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview