CRIMINAL offending throughout Indigo Shire has been dashed by almost eight per cent, with a marked drop in Beechworth-based offending leading the charge according to recent Crime Statistics Victoria (CSV) data.

Figures recently released for the year ending September 2023 showed a 7.7pc drop in total offences recorded across the shire, with offending gravitating towards the shire’s mean after reaching a decade-high in 2022.

The news comes just weeks after Indigo Shire councillors voted in support of the purchase of two portable CCTV cameras for use throughout the shire to further cut down on crime, with a particular focus on domestic violence offending.

Some 657 offences were recorded as part of CSV’s most recent data, 55 less than the previous year, however, the figure still marked the shire’s second-highest return since 2014.

In Beechworth, some 36 fewer criminal offences were recorded (197), the bulk of which involved theft (74), property damage (23) or assault (22).

An additional 22 criminal offences (149) were recorded in Rutherglen as compared to last year’s figures, while Chiltern saw a slight decrease in offending.

Across the shire, family violence order breaches were the most common criminal offence (101), while theft from motor vehicles (80), criminal damage (61) and non-residential, non-aggravated burglary (39) each experienced increases.

Sexual offending (28) saw the largest percentage decrease, after equaling 2018’s decade-high 77 offences in 2022.

In nearby Wodonga shire, criminal offending rose to a decade-high, following a 16.8pc increase driven by spikes in thefts from motor vehicles, family violence breaches, theft and obtain benefit by deception offending.

Wangaratta also recorded its second-highest criminal offending rate in a decade, in the wake of a 25pc increase in offending which saw some 2760 offences cited.

Some 2262 of the recorded offences were reported as having occurred in Wangaratta.