Crime has fallen again for Dandenong following the Andrew Labor Government’s record community safety investment.

Member for Dandenong, Gabrielle Williams, today welcomed the latest statistics from the independent Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) but also said more work needs to be done to continue to drive crime down further.

The crime rate in Greater Dandenong fell 9.3 per cent in the year to 30 June 2018.

The rate of burglary and break and enter offences has declined by 21.5 per cent. Across Victoria it fell 18 per cent and is now at the lowest level on CSA record.

The rate of aggravated robbery dropped 9.8 percent, while the rate of theft fell 11.5 per cent in Greater Dandenong.

Greater Dandenong joins another 63 local government areas across Victoria’s 79 that have experienced a decrease in their crime rate compared to the previous 12 months.

Importantly, the CSA data also shows that family violence continues to be one of the most significant contributors of violence against the person in our state.

That’s why the Labor Government has funded 415 new family violence police around the state, 14 of which have already been allocated to the Dandenong Division. These specialist frontline police work in communities to prevent this crime and identify risk early to protect Victorian families.

This is in addition to the Labor Government’s historic $2.6 billion investment into the prevention of family violence. Recommendations from the Royal Commission are currently being rolled out to boost police capability and powers.

The fall in crime comes as we give police the biggest boost to its numbers in history, with 96 new police already allocated to Dandenong Division this year.

Our record $2 billion investment into Victoria Police funded 3,135 frontline police to be deployed by 2022, along with new technology, state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and stronger laws to crack down on crime.

This is in stark contrast to the Liberals who cut $100 million from Victoria Police, did not fund a single new police officer and sacked 350 Victoria Police staff – which coincided with a 13.5 per cent increase in crime during their term.