Campaspe crime drops from record peaks, challenges remain

The region recorded 2880 incidents, down from 3,157 during the same period in 2025.

This represents a significant turnaround for the area, which in 2025 recorded its highest total of offences since data collection began.

Campaspe’s offence rate is still higher than the state average of 8690.8 per 100,000 population, recording 10,065 offences per 100,000 people.

While retail theft and bail breaches remain among the region’s top offences, breaches of family violence orders saw a sharp 15.35 per cent increase, rising to 293 incidents this year.

Campaspe police Senior Sergeant Damian Keegan said this was not necessarily always a bad thing, rather reflecting shifting culture around domestic abuse.

“It’s something that (police) don’t necessarily see as a negative because to find out the real problem, we need people to come forward,” he said.

“I think at this moment, it’s a change in society of actually calling out that behaviour, and coming forward and reporting family violence.”

Theft incidents have seen a 30.27 per cent decrease in the past year, dropping from 1130 to 788 reports.

Sen Sgt Keegan credited the decline to a mixture of increased police visibly and a targeted effort to direct those impacted by cost-of-living pressures towards support systems.

“We have put a big effort (since last year) because that’s been one of those things that we've seen — an increase within our retail theft and retail crime,” he said.

“That can be from a combination of hardships and also, unfortunately, some people just wanting to offend out of a desire, not necessarily out of the need.

“We’ve run a number of operations, and it’s about ... really pushing the members to actually get out there and be on the street.

“When we identify these people in our community that need that little bit of extra help, members are handing out to them the relevant links into the support networks to steer them away from criminality.”

Campaspe police aim to maintain this downward trajectory by further embedding themselves in the community.

As part of this strategy, police announced in May that the Echuca station would reduce its reception counter hours to 6am to 10pm, closing overnight.

Sen Sgt Keegan said the move would boost response times by putting more cars out on the road, and officers out on the streets.

“It’s proven that when your members are out there actually in the street, that’s what makes people feel safe, and the ones that want to commit offences tend to go elsewhere,” he said.

“(The community) want us out there, not sitting behind a desk.”

Another priority will be engaging with the community in what they see as important for safety.

One way community members can provide this feedback is by participating in the Community Sentiment Survey, being run by Victoria Police.

“My perception of safety in the community may be different to someone within the community,” he said.

“That’s why we need ... that feedback from the community to come back and let us know how they feel.”

To give your feedback about policing in your area, head to engage.vic.gov.au/vicpol-2026

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.