HORSHAM Police Inspector Di Thomson says new crime data for the area shows the community's confidence in reporting crime to police is growing.
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The latest quarterly update from the Crime Statistics Agency of Victoria, released on Thursday, shows a 14.4 per cent drop in the overall number of criminal incidents in Horsham Rural City.
In the 12 months to September there were 1269 such incidents, compared to 1464 for the previous 12-month period.
In the three months since the last report, Horsham's criminal incident rate has dropped to 10.299 incidents per 100,000 population, down from 13,723 which was the third-highest rate in the state.
Inspector Thomson said: "Horsham Police are applying a proactive scanning overlay into the projection of crime from intelligence gathering process and using this intelligence to prevent crime.
"We are also embedding the priority of pro arrest and remand to hold offenders to account and reduce harm. We are deliberately concentrating on the people committing the offences and utilising all enforcement avenues available to disrupt the cycle of offending."
Inspector Thomson said the number of assaults and related offences dropped by 36 per cent in the same timeframe. She said Horsham Police had done work with the community and licensed venues in the city to reduce the rate of offences of this nature.
Thursday's data also showed a rise in the number of criminal incidents in Nhill and Edenhope. Inspector Thomson said an increase in burglaries in Nhill and and property damages in Edenhope were driving this increase, and that police were investigating these matters.
"Beginning in 2020, we have introduced a combined West Wimmera & Hindmarsh Shire rostering system to combine resources in the outlying stations within these shires," she said. "(This is) to increase agility to respond and increase connecting to the outlying communities.
There have also been drops in criminal incidents in Warracknabeal and Ararat, while in Stawell the number of incidents increased by nine per cent to 477.
Across the Northern Grampians, the number of assaults, thefts and criminal damage cases increased in the year to September 30.
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Alexander Darling
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
