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Latrobe Tops State for Crimes against the PersonVictorian Crime Statistics showed Latrobe local government area (LGA) topped the state and recorded significantly higher rates of crimes against the person than Melbourne. By Portal Admin - 1st October 2018 - Back to News A state parliament research paper on Victorian Crime Statistics shows the Latrobe local government area (LGA) topped the state and recorded significantly higher rates of crimes against the person than Melbourne.
It comes after a horrific attack against an 83-year-old woman who was repeatedly punched during an aggravated burglary in her own Morwell home last week.
The Nationals candidate for Morwell, Sheridan Bond, said the research paper released by the parliamentary library highlights the increasingly high rates of crime occurring in Latrobe.
"The report shows crimes against the person in Latrobe Valley have continued to increase over the past four years with Labor governing the state. What is most alarming is Latrobe City has recorded a much higher rate than Melbourne and tops the state in respect to crimes against the person under Daniel Andrews’ Labor Government," Ms Bond said.
"This is not a record we want. I am saddened but not surprised to read about our community’s worsening crime record over the past four years.
"As I’ve been doorknocking and holding listening posts throughout the electorate of Morwell, people consistently express their concerns about increasing crime and their personal safety."
Crimes against the person include the offences of homicide, assault, sex offences, stalking and robbery. The five Victorian LGAs with the highest offence rates per 100,000 of population for crimes against the person were Latrobe, Melbourne, Ararat, Benalla and Yarriambiack.
Other areas of concern for crime in Latrobe included:
- Justice procedures offences (i.e. court order breaches etc) – Latrobe highest in the state
- Property and deception offences – Latrobe second highest in the state
- Public order and security offences – Latrobe fourth in the state
- Drug offences - Latrobe ninth in the state
"The statistics contained within this parliamentary research paper simply tell the truth. Across the five reported categories Latrobe comes second only to Melbourne with a total offence rate of 17,866 per 100,000 population and leads crime in regional Victoria by a country mile. Only The Nationals will be tough on crime and address the lawlessness and threats to personal safety our local community is facing.
"We have committed to mandatory minimum sentencing for certain violent crimes – the most violent offenders will go to jail. We’ll also tighten bail laws to stop abuse of the system and locally we’ll improve community safety by stationing protective services officers (PSOs) at the Traralgon bus and taxi interchange and provide grants for improved CCTV and lighting in high-risk areas."
The data that formed the state library research report was derived from Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) as recorded by Victoria Police and was extracted from the Victoria Police Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) database.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: support@gippsland.com

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