FRAUD, domestic violence and theft were among the crime categories to increase in Bathurst in the last 12 months, according to the latest figures released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The figures, released last week, provide a snapshot of crime in the city compared to 12 months ago and reveal all other 14 major crime categories as stable or falling.
According to the latest figures, the number of domestic violence incidents reported to police was 230 in the 12 months to September 2018, compared to 197 the previous year.
Likewise, fraud increased from 251 cases in 2017 to 288 just 12 months later.
Non-domestic violence assaults fell marginally (238 in 2017 compared to 235 in 2018) while sexual assault also fell. There were 50 matters reported to police in 2018 compared to 52 in 2017.
Indecent assault figures were stable with 60 incidents reported in 2017 and 61 in 2018.
Break and enters at dwellings fell slightly in 2018, with a figure of 252 compared to 284 the previous year.
Break and enters at non-dwellings fell by half. There were 43 incidents reported in 2018 compared to 87 in the previous period.
Car thefts were up a little; 70 cars were reported stolen in the 2017-2018 period compared to 64 the year prior.
Thefts from motor vehicles were also up from 295 in 2017 to 320 for the following period.
Malicious damage fell from 590 in 2017 to 492 for the 12 months leading into September, 2018.
Chifley Police District crime manager Detective Inspector Luke Rankin said overall police were pleased with the figures, which reflect Bathurst is a very safe place to live.
“In general property crime has either been reduced modestly or is stable. We do get spates of offences from time to time – and one particular issue we had during the year was with thefts from vehicles , so it's no surprise to see an increase in this category,” he said.
“When those spates arise we have demonstrated that we are efficient at responding. We step up patrols while we investigate.”
Consistent with other police districts across the state, Dep Inspt Rankin said officers in Bathurst have seen increases in the rate of reporting of domestic violence in recent years.
“We are comfortable with this - that people are reporting it (DV) to the police at an increasing rate. Each of those reports represents an opportunity for us to take action against a perpetrator, to provide support to a victim and to liaise with other agencies regarding children who have been exposed to family violence.”
Det Inspt Rankin said regrettably, fraud continues to rise across the state.
“The main driver of this is 'unauthorised access to funds' - usually in the form of an offender using an illegally obtained credit card to purchase things via paywave. One crook with a stolen credit card can generate a lot of separate fraud incidents as they go from business to business using the card until it is cancelled.
“One positive for us is that there is often CCTV in these businesses and therefore we can readily obtain evidence against the offenders.”