THE number of reported family violence incidents in the Kingston local government area continues to rise.
Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency put out its latest summary of statistics last week. It found that reported family violence incidents in Kingston had grown for a fourth consecutive year. There were 1886 reported incidents between September 2021 and September 2022, a 7.6 per cent increase on the previous year.
Women were the recorded victims of domestic violence 1413 times in the last year in Kingston. Men were the victims on 448 occasions.
Despite a statewide decrease in overall criminal activity, crime in the Kingston local government area increased in 2022.
There were 10,250 recorded offences in the Kingston LGA between September 2021 and September 2022. The figure is nearly a two per cent increase on the same time period between 2020 and 2021.
Cheltenham was the suburb most affected by crime in Kingston, with a little more than 1400 recorded offences. More than 800 offences were also recorded in Clayton South, Moorabbin, Mentone, and Mordialloc.
CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley welcomed the news that crime had decreased statewide in the last year. “Victoria has seen a notable decrease in overall recorded crime levels during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Decreases in acquisitive crime such as thefts and deception have contributed to the lowest victimisation numbers and rates since 2005,” she said.
“Decreases in breaches of Chief Health Officer orders have continued to be the main driver of the decreases in key crime measures in the last 12 months from peaks in 2020. Deception and drug offences also contributed to these decreases.”
In neighbouring Frankston, both total offences recorded and the number of family violence incidents both decreased from the year prior.
The CSA’s statistics were compiled between September 2021 and September 2022, and compared to the same timeframe from the year before.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 21 December 2022