Victoria Police has set a target of reducing serious and violent crime by 5 per cent, in the face of an “unacceptable” crime rate.
In Greater Dandenong, recorded offences soared 16 per cent in the year ending June 2025, according to official crime stats. This was higher than the statewide 13.8 per cent rise.
The biggest spikes were in Dandenong (up 24 per cent) and Dandenong North (27 per cent).
There were huge jumps in car theft (up 34 per cent), family violence serious assaults (up 52 per cent) and arsons (up 56 per cent).
Meanwhile, family violence incidents hit a statewide record high of more than 106,000 for the 12 months. More than 8600 family violence offenders were arrested a total of 16,148 times.
Victoria Police deputy commissioner Bob Hill said police were working on new approaches to deter repeat offenders, including getting more police on the streets.
He urged the community to take simple crime-prevention steps such as locking doors and anti-theft devices in cars.
“As a society, we simply cannot allow the level of crime we are seeing to become normalised and accepted – every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their home, within the community and on the roads,”
“Our members are doing exceptional work to resolve these crimes. But it must be said – the number of arrests we are seeing reflects an unacceptable level of offending.
“Victoria Police has set an ambitious target of reducing serious and violent crime by five per cent each year. There is no doubt this will be a challenge, but it is a fight we are up for to ensure our community remains as safe as possible.”
Aggravated home burglaries in Greater Dandenong dropped by 24 per cent but non-aggravated home burgs were up 25 per cent. Offences at houses were up 12 per cent.
The most common offence in the region was thefts from vehicles (up 30 per cent) – which includes number plates.
Also in the top 5 are retail theft (up 13 per cent), family-violence intervention order breaches (up 10 per cent) and criminal damage (up 24 per cent).
