Crime statistics for the Greater Shepparton area are up.

Recently released data from the Crime Statistics Agency shows criminal incidents in Greater Shepparton rose more than 20 per cent for the 12 months to the end of March 2025, compared to the previous year.

For the year ending in March 2024, police recorded 5909 criminal incidents.

That number jumped to 7102 in 2025.

According to the new data, breaches of family violence orders remained the top offences in Greater Shepparton for the fifth year in a row, with 921 incidents recorded.

That’s compared to 669 in the previous year.

Greater Shepparton Local Area Commander Inspector Bruce Simpson said the number of offences related to family violence dwarfed those in other categories.

“That’s where the problem is for the Shepparton community,” he said.

In the past, Insp Simpson said rising numbers for family violence incidents would have been seen as partially positive because it was an indicator that people felt more comfortable reporting the incidents.

“The flip side is that it also shows just how big the problem is,” he said.

“Please continue to report because there are more and more services available.

“The last thing we want is our community to feel unsafe in their own homes.”

Criminal damage was second on the list of the top five types of criminal incidents in the local area, with 660 incidents recorded in the most recent statistics.

For the first time in the past decade, theft from a retail store also made the list.

There were 502 incidents recorded in the 2025 statistics, compared to 172 the previous year.

Insp Simpson said those numbers did not necessarily reflect an increase in crime, but more likely an increase in police response.

“Those numbers are a reflection of the good work that’s being done to try to address retail crime,” he said.

Nearly 500 incidents of “other theft” and 454 incidents of theft from a motor vehicle rounded out the top five list for the Shepparton area.

Insp Simpson said the 20 per cent rise in incidents came after several years of relatively stable, low numbers.

“The challenge is to understand what was going on that kept that crime low,” he said.

There were 160 extra assault incidents recorded in the Shepparton area in the most recent data, compared to the previous year – 891 recorded through March of 2025, compared to 731 in 2024.

Stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour incidents were also up slightly.

There were 82 arson incidents recorded for the 12 months through March of this year, more than double the number recorded through the same time in 2024.

Property damage and burglary incidents also increased, and the number of thefts rose sharply from 1236 recorded in the 2024 data to 1879 in the latest data.

Drug dealing and trafficking incidents were down; however, drug use and possession numbers rose.

Incidents involving disorderly and offensive conduct dropped from 83 in 2024 to 61 in the recently released statistics.

However, the number of incidents involving weapons and explosives offences rose from 191 in 2024 to 217 in 2025.

The rise in crime was coupled with a decline in the percentage of charges laid and an increase in the percentage of unsolved cases.

With the new numbers in mind, Insp Simpson encouraged the public to engage with police, including taking part in the annual community sentiment survey.

“What that does is it helps police understand what the concerns of the community are,” he said.

Insp Simpson said officers wanted to ensure they were targeting issues that were the top priority for the public.

He also encouraged people to join the upcoming neighbourhood policing forum to provide feedback and ask questions.

The forum will be held on Wednesday, July 23 at the Parklake Shepparton at 1pm.

More information about the event can be found here.

Insp Simpson said the rise in crime in Shepparton was consistent with what was being seen across the state.

While some areas of Victoria saw crime rates drop, the number of criminal offences and incidents recorded statewide was up.

In some areas, criminal incidents rose almost 40 per cent.

“There is no doubt overall crime is higher than both the community and police would like,” Victoria Police Regional Operations Acting Deputy Commissioner David Clayton said.

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Tuesday, 6th May 2025

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