Healesville crime-solving is best

By Melissa Meehan
HEALESVILLE police are patting themselves on the back after recording one of the highest crime clearance rates in the state.
They also topped the list of the most number of crimes in Region Four during 2007-08, which covers the North Eastern Region of Victoria from the Hume Highway to the Princess Highway.
Sergeant Tony Van Gorp said the crime-solving rate for Healesville police, based on station statistics, was just under 50 per cent, which he described as an excellent effort from police working at the station.
“Obviously, we are still looking to improve but to be able to say we are among the best in the state is a wonderful effort,” Sergeant Tony Van Gorp said.
The news of Healesville’s high clearance rate coincides with figures leaked to the Opposition that crime is on the rise in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, which is part of police Region Four.
Leader of the Victorian Liberal National Coalition Ted Baillieu said the figures showed a significant rise in violent robberies, weapons offences and a large increase in abduction and kidnapping in Region Four.
In a statement, Victoria Police downplayed the leak.
“Victoria Police has always had an open and transparent process for publicly releasing its annual crime figures,” the statement 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,” the statement added.
“Our concern is that this provisional document may cause unnecessary confusion in the local community until official statistics are released.
Victorian Government spokesperson Michael Sinclair said it was “disappointing the Liberal Party are using these leaked unverified statistics to drive fear into the community”.
“The Government commends the fine work of local police in the Yarra Ranges region, and through our record funding and their efforts, Yarra Ranges has seen a 24 per cent reduction in overall crime since 2000-01,” Mr Sinclair said.
Sgt Van Gorp said it was difficult to base assumptions on the figures for the Yarra Ranges as they could be misleading.
He said if one particular incident was recorded as happening once one year, and there were two incidents of the same nature the following year that would show a 100 per cent increase in that particular incident over two years.
“That is why we have to be careful when reading the data in the report,” Sgt Van Gorp said.
“But the figures show there has been a healthy decrease in the Yarra Ranges, and hopefully we can improve on that again next year.”