Chifley Police District’s highest ranking officer, Superintendent Paul McDonald, said the latest results from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) were positive news for the city.

“I”m very happy with the statistics,” he said.

Supt McDonald said there was a lot more contributing to the improved figures than just police response.

“A lot of other factors work towards crime trends going down, socioeconomic factors impact them as well as working with other community areas,” he said.

And a proactive stance on drug-related crime had, in turn, had a positive effect on other areas. By targeting drugs, Supt McDonald said, related crimes such as break and enters also start to fall.

“It positively affects the drug-related economy of crime, where people are forced to break the law to feed their habit.”

The Chifley Police District has made a number of drug arrests over the past month with a number of people charged in relation to an alleged drug syndicate operating in Bathurst.

Supt McDonald said his officers planned to continue their focus on drug-related crimes.

“The more we can focus on things like Strike Force Garnier and other drug-related areas the more we can address other areas,” he said. “Drugs fuel other crimes.”

The main crime categories on the decline included break and enter (non dwelling) which were down from 131 in the 12 months to December 2016 to 77 for the same period in 2017.

Motor vehicle theft was down from 105 to 65; steal from motor vehicle was down from 336 to 280; steal from retail store was down from 201 to 126; and steal from dwelling was down from 147 to 119.

Fraud was also down from 291 to 233.

But one area where the statistics were on the rise was domestic violence (216, up from 186) which Supt McDonald put down to more victims speaking out.

He said traditionally victims of domestic violence had not come forward to police so he was encouraged that the figures showed more were now speaking up and reporting the crime.

“When victims come forward we can target more offenders and get mechanisms in place to support victims,” he said.

“Our focus will always be to drive down domestic violence and encourage victims to speak up.

“We have a proactive focus on DV offences. We run regular operations to make sure people are compliant with court orders and take action when appropriate.”

It was a similar situation with sexual assault, up from 34 in 2016 to 59 in 2017.

“Police want to hear from victims and take action,” Supt McDonald said.

Malicious damage incidents were up from 502 in 2016 to 618 in 2017.

Supt McDonald said alcohol was often a factor in these crimes.

“We’re working with licensed operators and undertaking proactive policing operations,” he said.

“My absolute priority is to have police out on the street. Visibility is a big deterrent.”