Serious criminal trespass and theft related offending in South Australia have again recorded significant declines, the latest crime statistics have revealed.
The February rolling year crime statistics reveal house break-ins have dropped for the eighth successive period, shop theft and car theft have also continued to decline at a steady rate and robbery and related offences have again dropped significantly.
The latest figures reveal the number of house break-ins declined by seven per cent from 5,899 to 5,465 reported offences. This followed a five per cent decline in the January period and a six per cent decline in the December period.
The number of non-residential break-ins declined by five per cent from 3,648 to 3,479 reported offences. This followed a two per cent decline in the January period.
Acting Assistant Commissioner (Metropolitan Operations Service) John de Candia said the continued reduction in both residential and non-residential serious criminal trespass offences was encouraging.
"The results reflect the proactive work being done by frontline officers across all of our policing districts,'' he said.
"Identifying the recidivist offenders responsible for a significant number of these offences and then targeting them with specific operations to uncover the depth of their offending, gathering the necessary evidence and then charging them accordingly is paying dividends.
"In a number of these matters the courts have recognised their serious level of offending and they have been refused bail which contributes to a reduction in further offending.''
One recent joint operation, dubbed Sentinel, involved detectives from the Northern, Eastern and Southern District Criminal Investigation Branches who probed the activities of a group of individuals responsible for committing multiple serious offences across several suburbs.
Operation Sentinel resulted in seven individuals – several of whom were significant recidivist offenders – being charged with 29 offences including aggravated serious criminal trespass, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, firearms possession, illegal use and driving while disqualified. All have been refused bail.
Another protracted investigation into a recidivist offender committing offences across suburbs including North Adelaide, Kent Town, Marden and Evandale in February and March resulted in the arrest of a Queensland man, 41.
The man has been charged with 35 offences involving theft and non-residential serious criminal trespass. The man also had outstanding warrants for offences committed in Queensland, including multiple counts of rape and indecent assault.
A separate investigation into a string of thefts from hardware stores between September 2024 and March 2025 resulted in the arrest of a Henley Beach South man, 49, who is facing multiple counts of theft in connection with goods worth more than $10,000.
The latest figures reveal shop theft has continued to decline with a fourth successive decrease recorded. The number of offences dropped by eight per cent – from 18,743 to 17,268 offences – this period. This followed a five per cent decline in the January period, three per cent in December and two per cent in November.
Robbery and related offending have continued to decrease with a 15 per cent decline – from 887 to 742 offences recorded. This followed a 20 per cent decline in the January period, 22 per cent in December and a 26 per cent drop in the November period.
Within that category aggravated robbery declined by 19 per cent or 96 offences in the February period – from 512 offences to 416 offences – while non-aggravated robbery declined by five per cent – from 79 offences to 75 offences.
Car theft and theft from a vehicle have also continued to steadily decrease. Car theft dropped by 11 per cent or 408 offences – from 3,865 to 3,457 offences. This followed a 12 per cent decrease in the January period, an 11 per cent decrease in December and an eight per cent decline in the November period.
Theft from a vehicle decreased by 22 per cent – from 10,212 to 7,938 offences. This followed a 20 per cent drop in January and a 19 per cent decline in the December and November periods.
The homicide rate in South Australia has continued to decrease with a 64 per cent decrease reported in the period – from 25 to nine offences.
