Criminal incidents in Wangaratta reached a decade high over the past year, but they're still below the Victorian average.

The rural city recorded 2040 incidents in the 12 months to September - a 4.2 per cent increase on the 1957 incidents the previous year - according to the latest Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) data.

The rural city's jump has seen its criminal incident rate per 100,000 population rise to 6724.3, which is its highest in the past decade, but still below the Victorian rate of 6810.2.

According to CSA’s figures, charges were laid in 46.3 per cent of Wangaratta criminal incidents, no charges were laid in 19.6 per cent of incidents, and 34.1 per cent of incidents are unresolved.

Wangaratta’s increase in crime was fuelled by a growing number of criminal damage incidents (231 up from 164 the previous year) and breaches of family violence orders (207 up from 201).

Thefts from retails stores and drug possession also observed increases from last year, with 171 thefts from retail stores(up from 114) and 136 drug possession incidents (up from 106).

Other thefts were down compared to the previous year, with 150 recorded compared to 170 in 2024.

Wangaratta city recorded 1723 criminal incidents (up from 1654), followed by Glenrowan with 74 (same last year), South Wangaratta with 29 (up from 24), Springhurst with 27 (up from 11) and Eldorado with 17 (up from three).

Family violence incidents were up 12.5 per cent compared to the previous year with 748 incidents recorded in 2025 compared to the 665 in 2024.

For the year ending September 2025 the family incident rate per 100,000 population for Wangaratta was 2465.6, significantly higher than the Victorian rate of 1484.9.

According to CSA’s figures, for the year ending in September 2025 the offence rate per 100,000 population for Wangaratta was 9697.5, significantly above the Victorian rate of 9030.2.

The offence rate in Wangaratta was up 2.6 per cent compared to the previous year, with 2942 offences recorded, an increase from the 2868 recorded at the same time last year.

Alpine also saw its criminal incident rate surge 28.3 per cent on the back of an increase in breaches of family violence orders and criminal damage incidents.

Indigo saw a 14.6 per cent increase of criminal incidents, Wodonga saw a 5.7 per cent increase, while Moira saw a 4.7 per cent decrease.

Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Bob Hill said Victoria Police is determined to reduce the crime levels and provide a greater sense of safety.

"Far too many innocent people are being impacted by crime with many suffering from ongoing physical, psychological or financial issues,” he said.

“Significant organisational change is underway in VicPol which will see more police visible in our communities – deterring criminal behaviour and preventing crime are key to our success."