After several years of sharp increases in crime, offending in the Wangaratta area has begun to stabilise, but Victoria Police say any major reduction in overall crime was unlikely to be imminent.

The Crime Statistics Agency released their latest data for the 2025 calendar year which saw Wangaratta record an increase of just 24 criminal incidents and 28 total offences from 2024.

The one per cent jump is the lowest recorded in a calendar year for Wangaratta since 2021 and has the rural city crime rate below the state average in offences committed per 100,000 people.

Criminal damage (221), breach of family violence orders (201) and stealing from a retail store (147) were the highest recorded incidents within Wangaratta, all showing increases from 2024.

Acting Inspector and Wangaratta Local Area Commander Nathan Ractliffe said while it was pleasing to see the area below the state average in crime, two main themes continued to be a concern for the local force.

Retail theft saw an increase of 32.5 per cent on this time last year, which Act Insp Ractliffe said was in large parts due to repeat offenders targeting supermarkets and warehouse retail stores.

“Big companies in town are the ones suffering the most and are feeling the losses,” he said.

“Our response needs to be broad, targeting the known offenders we know are doing the crimes and working with our partner agencies to deduct the opportunities for these people to steal.”

Vehicle thefts have also been on the agenda at the local police station, which saw a 27 per cent increase in Wangaratta.

Metropolitan police have issued warnings of an increase in key mimicking or cloning technology to override car security systems.

Victoria Police suggests 30 to 40 per cent of all car thefts are now done in this manner.

Act Insp Ractliffe said while the technology was not as prevalent in the area, cases of key cloning technology to steal cars have been detected.

“It’s not solely a police issue, we need owners of vehicles to ensure they are locked, parked behind gates and make it harder for offenders to steal,” he said.

Victoria Police analysis suggests positive signs are beginning to emerge, with overall crime starting to stabilise after several years of sharp increases.

However, Victoria Police say the same analysis forecasts any major reduction in overall crime is unlikely to be imminent, given ongoing issues such as the cost of living, recidivism, and the increased use of technology in offending.

Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill said with 230,213 different victims of crime across the state, the force was seeing far too many innocent community members harmed.

“This is simply not acceptable as we want Victorians to not only be safe but feel safe in their community,” he said.

“We are also in the process of rolling out significant organisational changes that are geared towards having more police in the community preventing crime.

“This includes transferring administrative duties performed by officers to non-sworn staff, as well as delivering technological advancements that allow police to conduct everyday tasks, such as interviewing and charging offenders, while on the road.”

In Wangaratta, some 1322 victims of crime were recorded for 2025, a 2.6 per cent increase on 2024.

Assault (243), theft (234) and property damage (162) victims were most common within the rural city.

Family violence related incidents continued to rise with 100 more offences recorded in 2025 than 2024.

The 776 total family incidents kept Wangaratta well above the state average rate of family violence offending.

Total alleged offenders involved in criminal incidents reached a 10-year high for Wangaratta in 2025, recording an increase of 10.5 per cent on last year.

Most common alleged offenders within Wangaratta were between the ages of 18-24 and 45+ with 929 of the total 1148 people male.

The state government said the data showed bail refusals were up, and male youth offending had fallen for the first time in years.

Remands had increased by nearly 70 per cent and bail revocation in the Magistrates’ Court had increased by 84 per cent.

Minister for Police Anthony Carbines said there was more work to do, but results showed the government’s crackdown on bail laws were working.

“Crime is still unacceptably high and there are too many victims in the community… that’s why we delivered Adult Time, toughened bail laws, and backed Victoria Police with more powers,” he said.

Across the North East, Wodonga showed a 6.5 per cent reduction in crime, in large part due to recording 125 less incidents of thefts from motor vehicles in 2025.

Mansfield (5.2pc), Indigo (4.2pc) and Strathbogie (19.2pc) shires also saw reductions in crime while Moira (0.4pc) and Alpine (22pc) had an increase in crime on 2024.