South west residents are living in a more crime prevelent society than they were 15 months.
Victoria Police has just announced its crime statistics from the 12 months of 2025, and it does not make for good reading.
Almost all categories covered in the report have seen a rise in criminal offences.
Car thefts continue to rise, with 32,000 cars stolen in 2025.
That number contributes to an escalation of 96.9 per cent over the past three years.
Retail crime has also had an unwelcome surge, with 41,547 retail theft offences last year.
Overall, there were 630,592 criminal offences recorded in Victoria last year, an increase of 25,250 offences or 4.2 per cent.
The crime rate, which factors in population growth, rose by 2.4 per cent.
That number translates to 8885.5 offences per 100,000 people.
