Not Welcome Here: Corowa and Rutherglen Sergeants Stephen Marshall and Michael Savage are sending a strong, united message to thieves by joining forces against the recent rise in opportunistic crime.
Crime continues to be a pressing issue in the community, with Indigo Shire seeing another rise in victim reports.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Though Rutherglen Police Sergeant Michael Savage said a range of proactive initiatives were having a positive impact.
The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) recently released data showing a 370 victim reports in the shire in the first quarter of this year, a 7.2 per cent increase from the previous year and a rise of 56 incidents over the past five years.
Criminal incidents rose slightly by 1.3 per cent, from 464 to 470, with theft and criminal damage being the most common offences.
In Rutherglen, property and deception offences have increased from 18 in 2024 to 30 in 2025 - a 66.6 per cent rise.
The most reported offences include theft, burglary/ break and enter, disorderly and offensive conduct and assault.
Property and deception offences also increased in the past 12 months.
In Wahgunyah, all categories showed a slight decrease while property damage, stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour, and drug use and possession all increased slightly over last year’s figures.
The CSA data revealed that Indigo Shire experienced decreases in alleged offender incidents and family incidents, although there is more work to be done with just one less family violence offence recorded.
Sgt Savage said crime tended to fluctuate year on year but the majority of thefts were opportunistic, rather than calculated.
“Unfortunately, thieves will come into Rutherglen from other towns such as Cobram, Yarrawonga or Albury/Wodonga specifically to steal where their face is not known,” Sgt Savage said.
“The risk is low as usually there is only one police vehicle that patrols the smaller towns.
“I have conducted a number of proactive initiatives within the Indigo Shire and am regularly on local news Prime/Win, in the Border Mail/Corowa Free Press, local radio stations and a guest presenter at local clubs such as Rotary and Lions.
“During these opportunities to speak out; I continually talk about securing items, locking vehicles, not leaving items in clear view to reduce opportunistic thefts from occurring.
Police are urging people to lock their cars and homes to help prevent opportunistic theft.
“I have also installed several CCTV cameras strategically around the town and sought and obtained assistance from major businesses in town to add to their CCTV cameras, especially on the front and rear of their premises to identify offenders, their vehicles and modus operandi when committing crimes.
“This has a proactive affect as offenders are aware of these steps and are heading to other locations where they can commit crime with less chance of getting caught.”
Family violence statistics declined in the shire over the past 12 months, but Sgt Savage said domestic violence was a challenging issue as the stats could be skewed significantly.
“As an example of this, I have just processed an offender for 17 family violence offences in a 15-day period,” he said.
“Another offender has been processed four times in two weeks with breaching intervention orders, so without trying, two offenders have accounted for 21 offences.
Sgt Savage says there is no longer a sense of shame in reporting family violence incidents.
Photo by
Romolo Tavani
“The benefit of this is proactive reporting, pro charge policing and enabling the victim to know that their complaint is being managed effectively and that hopefully the offender will be held to account by the judicial process and that the circle of offending is stopped or lessoned.
“There is no longer a sense of shame with reporting family violence incidents, which is a great thing as it is regularly in the news and victims are more confident in calling out the behaviour.
“The support agencies are also a lot better with victims receiving the care they deserve to fight back and re-take control of their lives if required.”
If you witness a crime, please contact: - Corowa Police: 6932 2899 – Rutherglen Police 6032 9612 - Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or Murray River Police District: 6023 9299. For emergencies, always dial 000.
If you become a victim of any scams firstly contact your financial institution and the Police.
The Victoria Police website also has valuable crime prevention tips, party safe registration, firearms applications and forms as well as lots of other useful data for the community so visit police.vic.gov.au for more information.
12°C