Top cop not entirely pleased over local crime data

Ballarat’s top cop says he would have liked to see some more pleasing data, following the release of the latest set of numbers from the Crime Statistics Agency.

Criminal incidents jumped by almost 10 per cent in Ballarat in the last 12 months; the year prior it was closer to 5 per cent.

Superintendent Frank Sells says however we are not yet back to pre-COVID levels of 2019.

“If anybody said to me coming out of the pandemic, lockdown sort of period whether or not that crime would’ve increased sharper, I would’ve probably said yes,” he said.