BATHURST has been ranked in the top 20 local government areas across the state for retail theft and break and enters, suggesting it is a city of thieves.
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Someone offends, we lock them up and the crime spree ends. There are crests and troughs.
- Detective Chief Inspector Colin Cracknell
Bathurst is ranked 11th out of 156 local government areas for incidents of stealing from a retail store and 19th for break and enters at a dwelling, based on a per capita rate for 100,000 people.
The figures are for 60 months to December 2015.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which compiles the statistics, said it was not unusual for regional areas to rank highly because of their smaller populations.
By comparison, Orange and Dubbo rank far higher.
At a per capita rate of 100,000, Dubbo is the worst in the state for stealing from a motor vehicle, seventh worst for motor vehicle theft and fifth worst for retail theft.
Orange was ranked third worst in the state for stealing from a retail store, fourth worst for stealing from a motor vehicle and 11th worst for break and enters at a dwelling.
Chifley Local Area Command acting crime manager, Detective Chief Inspector Colin Cracknell, said the rankings can be misleading because they are based on the per capita figure.
"In reality, our figures remain stable,” he said. “Things haven’t changed.
“The ranking looks high because our population compared to Sydney is very low, but the trend hasn’t changed.”
Det Chief Inspector Cracknell said the command was just 1.7 per cent above what was projected for break and enters for the financial year, which equated to nine break and enters across the whole command.
“When you take into account that incorporates Lithgow, Oberon, Bathurst, Blayney, Portland and Hill End, in the whole of Chifley that equates to about one extra break and enter at each location,” he said.
“While statistically crime spikes can hurt us, they are part of the cycle of crime; someone offends, we lock them up and the crime spree ends. There are crests and troughs, but our figures are on target.”
When it came to the number of retail thefts, he said it was a reflection of the times and was often related to drug use.
"Families and individuals are on struggle street and this certainly affects it,” he said.
“Anecdotal evidence is people steal from retailers because they are spending money on drugs and don’t have money for food and things you need to survive.”
He said police worked closely with retailers and department stores to try to prevent theft.