The number of criminal offences recorded in Victoria went up by more than 50,000 last year — an 8 per cent rise in the per-capita crime rate. The latest report from the Crime Statistics Agency of Victoria shows a total of 552,005 offences were recorded across the state to the end of December 2016, compared to 500,971 in 2015. ==Crime figures for 2016== Offence Change since 2015 Robbery Up 24.4 per cent Theft Up 15.9 per cent Assault and related offences Up 11.8 per cent Dangerous, negligent acts endangering people Up 22.3 per cent Burglary/break and enter Up 10.1 per cent Drug use and possession Up 6.9 per cent Breaches of orders Up 10.6 per cent Justice procedures offences Up 51.6 per cent Transport regulation offences Up 43.3 per cent Disorderly and offensive conduct Down 9.4 per cent Cultivating and manufacture drugs Down 9 per cent Source: Crime Statistics Agency of Victoria That equates to an increase in the number of offences of 10.2 per cent. When population growth is factored in, the crime rate has gone up by 8.1 per cent, or by 9,119 offences per 100,000 people. A third of all crimes in the state were related to theft, mostly involving motor vehicles. The total number of robberies increased 24 per cent and theft jumped 16 per cent. There was also a spike in the number of crimes against people, with dangerous and negligent acts endangering people rising by 22 per cent. Family incidents rose by almost 6 per cent. Car thefts were up by 27 per cent, which amounts to about 24,000 vehicles. Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp from Victoria Police said that number was too high. "Those vehicles are being used for a variety of reasons. They've been used for joy riding, they've been dumped," he said. "They've been used for more serious crimes, even armed robberies, they're being used in relation to ram raids, petrol thefts and a range of other offences. "We know that about 30 per cent are being used for profit-motivated crime, so they've been on-sold, rebirthed and the like." Almost half of all offenders were aged between 20 and 34. Police Minister Lisa Neville said the number of youths committing crimes was falling, but a small group of young offenders was still causing concern. "We've still got a lot of work to do," she said. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the Andrews Government was "soft on crime". Mr Guy said if he was elected Premier, he would toughen up bail and sentencing regimes and bring police to the streets more quickly than the current Government. "Those three things will go a long way to making us safe again, instead of being the crime capital of Australia."