CRIME has hit its highest level in Wodonga in five years, with domestic violence law-breakers largely sparking the jump.
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New Victorian Crime Statistics Agency data shows offences in Wodonga rose 8.6 per cent to 3359 at the end of the 2014-15 financial year.
Wodonga went against the trend across the North East with crime falling in Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Towong and Wangaratta councils.
Intervention order breaches jumped by 46 per cent, from 296 to 553 over the 12 months.
Acting Superintendent David Ryan said the spike coincided with a family violence unit forming at Wodonga police station.
"That explosion is largely due to the family violence unit and the strict compliance we require from perpetrators," he said.
"There's a clear attitude among family violence perpetrators that they will ignore court orders, but the tools we've got around breaches means police are more active around investigations and prosecutions."
Superintendent Ryan said breaches by men were about trying to maintain power.
"Just that constant presence of contacting them is perpetrating violence against them through that power imbalance," he said.
He said many breaches were often committed by a single person.
The Wodonga figures also showed a rise in crimes against the person, which includes assault, but recorded a drop in drug, property and deception offences.
In Wangaratta, the fallout from Operation Juliet, which centred on the drug ice, continues to be reflected in data.
Drug dealing and trafficking offences rose from 51 in 2013-14 to 170 in 2014-15.
By comparison in the same category in Wodonga there was a drop from 35 to 19 in Wodonga.
Superintendent Ryan said it was largely long-term police operations, rather than tip-offs, which resulted in dealers being nabbed.
"There really is an absence of information coming to police from the public, especially from young people,” he said.
"We almost never have information coming from young people, with them saying 'person A is a drug dealer in a pub and he deals every night'."
"We need information from the public about who is offending in terms of drug trafficking, particularly in relation to ice."
Superintendent Ryan said Wangaratta was benefiting from a drop in shop thefts which he attributes to increased security cameras which in turn allow the police to circulate images through the media.
"We had one solved in three hours once it hit social media," he said.
"That's an example of the power of security cameras and the use of media in crime prevention."
In Indigo, offences fell from 460 to 414 with theft matters dropping from 148 to 108.
Theft also plummeted in Alpine (204 to 107) and Towong (79 to 44).
Crime in Towong is at its lowest in five years with 171 offences in 2014-15, down from 257.
