From robberies to assaults, these are Victoria’s most crime-ridden shopping centres
After months of Covid lockdowns, criminals are once again targeting Victoria’s popular shopping centres. These are the hotspots for crime.
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Parents may want to think twice about allowing their children to roam shopping centres alone, after new data revealed law-breakers have returned to retail precincts following months of Covid lockdowns.
Criminals are running rampant across some of the state’s biggest malls and department stores, with one suburb seeing upwards of 550 misdemeanours between April 2022 and March 2023, Crime Statistics Agency Victoria findings suggest.
Topping the list are shopping complexes in Preston – which includes Northland Shopping Centre – with 571 offences recorded, consisting of 455 property and deception offences, 68 crimes against the person and 27 public order and security offences to name a few.
Ringwood follows in second place, with Eastland Shopping Centre and other stores in the area seeing 509 offences committed. About 79 per cent of these unlawful acts include property and deception offences.
Crime figures for shopping centres in the area have more than doubled in the past ten years, with the most recent figures the highest recorded since April 2013.
Meanwhile, those aged 10 to 24 are responsible for 112 offences in the 12 months prior to March this year.
In the west, the inner-city suburb of Maribyrnong, which is home to multi-level shopping complex Highpoint, ranks third, with Victoria Police recording 447 offences.
Cheltenham, Narre Warren, Doncaster and Wantirna South – which all have a Westfield shopping centre – are also misdemeanour hot spots, with a total of 1403 offences committed.
Meanwhile, out in the regions, retail precincts in Geelong have seen crime rates fluctuate in the past decade, with 187 property and deception offences committed, followed by 49 crimes against the person.
Not on the list are retailers in Melbourne’s northwest where knife crime among youths has become frequent.
In the past eight months, the Herald Sun understands at least three separate stabbing incidents have occurred in the grounds surrounding Watergardens Shopping Centre in Taylors Lakes.
Meanwhile, youth gangs are allegedly “causing a scene” at shopping centres in Pakenham, Cranbourne and Narre Warren’s Fountain Gate before posting violent videos online, according to one mother who didn’t wish to be named.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting these shopping centres are responsible for the crime seen in each suburb.
While these figures may seem high, generally crime has either decreased or plateaued in the past decade across most suburbs.
For example, Maribyrnong shopping centres have experienced a significant decrease in offences since the April 2013 to March 2014 period, where 701 crimes were committed.
There were also 189 less offences committed in Frankston between April 2022 and March 2023, compared to the same period ten years ago.
Meanwhile Preston – which was the suburb that recorded the most crime in the 12 months following April last year – had 138 less offences in the past year compared to a decade ago.
“It is extremely pleasing that overall crime at major shopping complexes and department stores has decreased by 23 per cent since pre-pandemic,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
“This includes a 26 per cent decrease in property and deception offences, which account for more than three quarters of all crime committed at shopping centres.”
Property and deception offences mostly included instances where lost or stolen credit cards are used to purchase goods as well as shop stealing, the spokesperson added.
“Crimes against the person, such as robberies and assaults, make up a small percentage of crime committed at shopping centres, with only one in ten crimes relating to offences such as these,” they said.
“Significantly, overall offences committed at shopping centres by youth (aged 10 to 17) remain 18.5 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.”
It’s understood Victoria Police regularly run operations in busy community locations such as shopping centres and train stations to detect and deter crime.
The Herald Sun has contacted the Australian Retailers Association for comment.
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