Ballarat’s top cop has defended a jump in the number of criminal incidents in the city.
New data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency shows Ballarat has recorded its highest crime rate since 2018.
Superintendent Frank Sells says it’s in line with our growing population.
“Look at the growth areas we’ve got locally here, [and] economic factors, that’s certainly coming into it now,” he said.
“Although we always want to see crime coming back rather than going up, you’ve got to balance that too with the amount of crime that’s being cleared, and we’re doing well with that.”
“I’d like to do better, but we are doing well with that at the moment.”