Crime in Melbourne

Crime in Melbourne refers to criminal activity in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. One of the main functions of Victoria Police is to detect criminal activity, and prosecutions take place in the Victorian court system.

Melbourne is commonly considered a reasonably safe city, although CBD assault figures were at a 10-year high in 2010,^[1] having risen each year since 2004.^[1]

Crime statistics

Victoria police statistics for 2010 stated that the total number of reported crimes in Melbourne's CBD dropped by 17 percent in the 12 months to January 2011.^[2] Police statistics stated there were 2921 recorded assaults^[2] per 100,000 people in the city in 2010, which represented an increase in assaults of 3.7 percent.^[3]

These figures have been disputed, with supplementary crime data indicating that 2720 people were attacked in Melbourne's CBD in 2010,^[3] 199 more than in 2009, representing an increase of 8 per cent.^[3] When family violence was excluded from these results, it represented a five per cent increase in assaults upon 2009 figures.^[1] Deputy Victoria police commissioner Sir Ken Jones said that an increase in city bars had contributed to the rise in assaults, as had the impact of a booming economy, which encouraged more people into the CBD.^[1]

The 2010 police figures demonstrated that the overall crime figure across Victoria was down 5.3 percent, with home burglaries falling 3.1 percent to 26,974, assaults up 2.6 per cent to 35,563 and the number of motor vehicles stolen down seven per cent to 14,324.^[1]

One of Melbourne's worst areas are the cities of City of Hume (more specifically Broadmeadows) and City of Brimbank (more specifically St Albans, Victoria). The areas have been dubbed the "crime capitals of Australia" ^{[4] [5] [6]}

List of specific crimes in Melbourne

See also

• Crime in Australia

References

External links

• Victoria Police crime statistics