WHILE crime statistics from the last 12 months show increases in several major areas, long-term figures paint a much more positive picture for Bathurst.
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The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research released its latest quarterly update, for the 12-month period of March 2019 to March 2020, last week.
During that period in Bathurst, there were increases in nine of the 17 major crime categories, while six saw decreases in incidents and two categories remained unchanged at zero reports.
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Chifley Police District crime manager, Detective Chief Inspector Luke Rankin, said the latest crime statistics were being closely monitored.
Although there were increases in key areas, the figures for the 12 months are consistent with what Bathurst sees in a typical year.
"Bathurst had what we would consider a favourable year for rates of crime in the period March 2018 to March 2019," Detective Chief Inspector Rankin said.
"Moving into the period March 2019 to March 2020, more typical rates of crime were reported.
"From there we have entered a different crime environment, with the COVID-19 crisis impacting the majority of crime categories positively (downward).
"Five year crime trends for Bathurst show reported crime is either stable or falling modestly."
One of the areas to see a substantial increase was domestic violence-related assault, with 248 reports compared with 213 in the 12 months to March 2019.
However, this could be a sign of increased reporting resulting from more community awareness of the issue and "much more proactive" policing.
"With domestic violence such a significant issue within our community and receiving so much attention, it is inevitable we will receive more reports," Detective Chief Inspector Rankin said.
"We regard this positively, though obviously with some caution and close scrutiny.
"Every report we receive is an opportunity for police to intervene and take action against offenders, and for support to be offered to victims.
"In recent years police have become much more proactive in policing domestic violence as well - for instance, targeting recidivist DV offenders through various strategies such as Apprehended Violence Order compliance checks."
There was also a significant increase in theft from dwellings, up 30 per cent with 148 reports.
Detective Chief Inspector Rankin said there was "no real trend associated with the increase", and said examples of some of the typical incidents include cushions stolen from outdoor furniture and stolen parcels.
"Many steal from dwelling incidents would have to be considered crimes of opportunity and it's possible that if the victims had been able to be more security conscious, they may not have occurred," he said.
People are encouraged to take steps to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to these kinds of crimes, including locking doors, windows and gates, and keeping valuables out of sight.