VIOLENT crime continues to rise in Monash with the latest crime figures showing a spike in assaults, particularly domestic violence.
New Victoria Police statistics show an extra 1230 crimes were recorded in Monash in the last calendar year — a rise of 16 per cent, to 8790 — compared with the previous year.
A breakdown of the figures show assault rose more than 30 per cent — an extra 166 more offences — from the previous year.
Monash's acting inspector Mark Delahunty said the rise in 'crimes against the person', which were up 19 per cent, following a near doubling of the equivalent figure in 2011. He suggested that the higher levels of family violence reflected the greater willingness of victims to report assaults.
"The increase ... is reflective of the increase in reporting of family violence assaults," Acting Inspector Delahunty said.
"A significant amount of work has been undertaken to ensure incidents of family violence are reported and dealt with at an early stage, and the increase shows us that the community is increasingly willing and confident in reporting these incidents to police."
Excluding family violence, assault figures rose about 9 per cent — an extra 33 cases.
While residential burglaries and property damage have fallen, the crime figures show a 27 per cent increase in commercial burglaries.
"Tradesman tools, copper wire and appliances from near-complete housing projects continue to be targeted," he said. "Owners need to support police by securing these items and premises, and report all suspicious activity to Crime Stoppers."
Last year, there were about a hundred fewer cars being broken into and car thefts.
"Our emphasis on property crime continues to provide positive results in tackling theft from motor vehicles and theft of motor vehicles," Acting Inspector Delahunty said. "This has come from streamlining our processes and focusing hard on recidivist offenders in these crime classes. However, I remind all in the community to secure valuables out of sight and lock vehicles at all times, even in your own driveway."