Ice and alcohol are driving crime – particularly assaults – across the inner west, police say.
Maribyrnong’s 6 per cent hike in crime in the past financial year was fuelled by a 13.6 per cent increase in assaults – from 669 reported cases to 760 – and a 15.5 per cent rise in vehicle theft, up from 381 to 440 incidents.
Maribyrnong police’s Inspector Tony Long said assaults remained areas of real concern, with methylamphetamine and alcohol abuse behind much of it.
“Ice is an insidious drug that causes an enormous amount of harm right across the community, as does alcohol-fuelled violence,” he said. “We need to work together to rid our society of these issues.”
Use, possession and trafficking of ice contributed to almost three-quarters of detected drug offences in Hobsons Bay (up from 317 to 342). Drug offences in Maribyrnong increased from 530 to 536.
Hobsons Bay recorded a lower crime rate than its neighbours, with reported offences falling from 6784 to 6799.
Maribrynong’s crime rate rose 6 per cent, from 7891 to 8363 reported offences; Wyndham’s was up 7.2 per cent from 12,131 to 13,000; Brimbank’s crime fell 5 per cent, with 17,983 reported offences.
Assaults in Hobsons Bay rose 8.3 per cent, from 637 to 690 cases, and was driven by 313 family violence reports compared with 231 the previous year. Crime grouped as “other” offences jumped by 40 per cent, from 719 to 1006, in Hobsons Bay.
Inspector Richard Paterson said family violence continued to drive assault figures and contributed to “other” crime, such as intervention order breaches.
“While many of the assaults are minor in nature, it’s a reflection on how we relate to one another either in a family setting or in public,” Inspector Paterson said.
He said there were significant reductions in Hobsons Bay property crime.
Robberies dropped 17.5 per cent, from 57 to 47 incidents; car theft fell 19.5 per cent, from 313 to 252; residential burglaries dropped, 28.7 per cent from 533 cases to 380; and theft from vehicles decreased by 15 per cent, down from 1043 to 888 cases.
In Maribyrnong, headway was made in tackling robbery (down 38.2 per cent), residential burglary (down 19.8 per cent) and theft from motor vehicles (down 9.9 per cent).
