Robberies rise

By Tania Martin
POLICE are urging foothills residents not to panic after leaked statistics revealed violent crime in Knox had increased by 31.8 per cent in the past year.
The figures showed that police Region 4, which includes Knox, saw the largest increase in robberies in the state.
The region also covers the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Manningham, and Nillumbik.
A report leaked to the State Opposition last week showed a significant increase in violent robberies, weapons offences and a bizarre increase in abductions and kidnapping.
Opposition leader Ted Baillieu said Region 4 had the biggest increase in robberies of any police region in the state at a staggering 31.8 per cent, suggesting a new trend in violent economic crime.
In response to the leaked information, Victoria Police said it had an open and transparent process for releasing its annual crime figures.
Knox District Inspector Mick Beattie said the figures were only provisional and could not be considered reliable until they had been verified through a very tight internal process.
“We have always had an open and transparent process for publicly releasing annual crime figures,” he said.
“This is not something we have ever hidden behind but we only release the figures once they have been verified and we are comfortable that they are accurate.”
Insp Beattie said the figures will be released later this month at both a state-wide and local level.
He said a lot of the robberies had involved both young victims and offenders and the theft of high technology items such as MP3 players and mobile phones.
He said through targeted operations and planned campaigns police are now actively seeking to reduce these numbers.
“The raw crime data for the City of Knox indicated a significant decrease in overall crime for the last financial year,” Insp Beattie said.
State Government spokesman Michael Sinclair said it was disappointing that the Liberal Party was using these leaked, unverified and unofficial statistics to drive fear into the community.
“The Brumby Government commends the fine work of local police in the Yarra Ranges region, and through our record funding and their efforts the region has seen a 24 per cent reduction in overall crime since 2000/01,” he said
The official statistics will be released later this month.