Casey has been rocked by a dramatic surge in crime, with nearly 30,000 offences recorded in just 12 months.
The latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) reveal 29,858 offences were recorded in the year to June 2025, a staggering 20.5 per cent increase compared with 24,782 the year prior.
Cranbourne recorded the highest number of offences (4,144), followed by Narre Warren (3,600), Berwick (3,108), Clyde North (2,671), and Hampton Park (1,867).
Aggravated home burglaries have surged by 40 per cent with 592 offences recorded in Casey.
Family violence increased by 13.6 per cent, with 6,518 incidents recorded, including 3,574 breaches of family violence orders.
In addition, stealing from a motor vehicle (4,353, up 29 per cent), other theft (2,560, up 15 per cent), criminal damage (2,154, up 18 per cent), and motor vehicle theft (1,923, up 54 per cent) were part of the worrying trend.
Police warn tech-savvy thieves are driving much of the surge, often targeting car keys in aggravated home burglaries, residential streets and driveways.
Similarly, number plates were also targeted, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all theft from motor vehicle offences across Melbourne.
CSA notes crime is evident in homes (12,054 offences), other locations: streets, lanes, and footpaths (3,741); driveways and carports (1,176); shopping complexes (1,157); and service stations (1,074).
Some were hoping for good news, as Premier Jacinta Allan recently banned machetes, rolled out machete bins, and introduced Australia’s toughest bail laws in a bid to curb reoffending and keep Victorians safe. Despite these measures, knife crime remains a key concern for police and the community following several recent incidents
The Crime Statistics Agency does not specifically record the number of knife related offences, but:
– Prohibited and controlled weapons offences (including knives and items such as knuckle dusters, batons and tasers) increased to 11,075.
– Victoria Police intelligence indicates that at the end of August, Victoria Police had seized almost 11,000 edged weapons in the previous year.
The highest number of alleged offenders in the year to June 2025 were aged 45 and over (1,425), followed by those aged 30-34 (1,392).
Offending among children remains a significant concern, with Casey seeing a rise in younger offenders: 1,326 aged 18–24 and 1,310 aged 10–17.
Across Melbourne, children account for just 12.8 per cent of all offenders processed but are overrepresented in serious and violent crimes such as robberies (62.2 per cent), aggravated burglaries (47.7 per cent), and car theft (26.4 per cent).
For the first time, the CSA has released bail statistics, following legislative changes allowing data collection from criminal courts.
Bail applications to the Magistrates’ Court increased 18.4 per cent in the last 12 months, driven by increased bail refusals and revocations.
Unsentenced receptions to Youth Justice remain well below the 10-year peak in 2020, but increased 35.0 per cent in the last 12 months.
CSA Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said that “this initial set of bail statistics collated from multiple agencies is a first step to helping us better understand the impacts of bail or remand decisions on an alleged offender’s pathway through the criminal justice system and further offending”.
Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Bob Hill said “as a society, we simply cannot allow the level of crime we are seeing to become normalised and accepted”.
“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,” Mr Hill said.
“We will continue to make arrests and hold offenders to account, but we need to prevent and deter crime to reduce offending so that there are fewer victims in Victoria.
“Right now we are working on new approaches that will deter repeat offenders and help stop these crimes before they can occur. This includes a focus on how we can get more police out on the streets.”
Mr Hill advised the community to take simple steps to help prevent crime, such as locking doors and considering anti-theft devices for vehicles.
“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.”
