Police say forensic targeting of known criminals is helping to make some of Melbourne’s offending hot spots safer, as official figures show the annual crime rate down 9.5 per cent across the state, and some of the biggest drops occurring on Melbourne’s growing fringe.

The Crime Statistics Agency says the number of criminal incidents recorded by police in the year to March 31 this year was 380,150, down nearly 9 per cent from 416,925 incidents recorded in the same period last year.

There were big drops in abductions, burglaries, theft, deception and drug dealing.

But sex offences were up again and there was a rise in public nuisance offences, the agency reported.