KEMPSEY local government area experienced a sharp drop in significant crime categories according to the latest BOCSAR (Bureau of Crime Statics and Reporting) statistics released last month.
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Break and enter offences, malicious damage, assault and car theft all dropped at least 10 percent in the total number of recorded offences for the 12 months to December 2015 compared to the previous 12 months.
Break and enter for no-dwellings were down by 34 per cent, car theft by 31 per cent, malicious damage offences dropped by 28 per cent.
Significantly non-domestic violence assaults dropped by 18 per cent, although the number of domestic violence offences increased by nearly 20 per cent.
This was inline with a state-wide trend of increased reporting of domestic violence assaults.
Despite the drop in recorded crimes the Kempsey LGA remains well above the state average in several crime categories.
Domestic violence assaults and indecent assault (twice the state average), robbery with a weapon and break and enter of dwellings (more than three times the state average) and stealing from a dwelling (two and a half times) remain problem areas for local police.
Mid North Coast Local Area Command (LAC) crime manager Detective Inspector Steve Clarke told the Port Macquarie News that property theft across the board was a target area for 2015.
“Reduced statistics are a reflection of a couple of things; first and foremost the public because we are only as good as what we get,” Det Insp Clarke said.
“The assistance from the public is where we get our information from and we act upon it, whether it’s anonymous through Crime Stoppers or a phone call to the police station.
“There has also been good police work so I’d like to acknowledge the local police and the public for their help.”
After realising property theft was an issue, Mid North Coast LAC looked into where the hotspots were, plus times and dates to ensure extra police were in the area.
“We start looking at pawn brokers and second hand dealers, not because they were doing anything wrong but the crooks take things there to sell.
“We also quarterly review our overall figures on our COMPASS system. We have to report to the region in all the crime categories and what we are doing about them so the review process is in place,” he said.
The full BOCSAR report can be read at www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au