More drug related offending has been detected in Mount Alexander Shire area in recent months, but Covid-19 appears to be driving some other forms of criminal offending down.
That’s the observation of local police this week, following the release of Victoria Police’s most recent crime statistics.
Castlemaine’s Senior Sergeant Peter Carey says there has been a 25 per cent increase in the detection of drug offending in the local police patch for the latest calendar year since January.
“We’ve seen an increase in the detection of drug offences. That’s a 25 per cent increase for the calendar year.
“Currently we’re at 195 detected offences as compared to 156 for the same time for the previous calendar year.
“Most of those will be possession, generally cannabis and methamphetamine.”
But he attributes this to a strengthened focus on detection of drug crime – rather than an actual increase in the local rates of drug related offending. Read more in the Castlemaine Mail 03.07.20