NSW Police have been encouraged by Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) data showing a steady decline in domestic violence offences in regional NSW, NSW Police say.
The quarterly data released today shows domestic violence offences have dropped 24.5 per cent in the Darling River Local Area Command in the 24 months to June 2017.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller APM said proactive and whole-of-government initiatives have changed the way offenders and communities respond to domestic violence.
"NSW Police have been extremely proactive targeting offenders of domestic violence and that approach is seeing a reduction in offence rates," Commissioner Fuller said.
"Proactive programs like the Suspect Target Management Plan and the Darling River LAC initiative Operation Solidarity which launched in October last year to specifically target domestic violence offences across the region, have had a significant impact on repeat offenders.
"The model has been so successful it has garnered interest from interstate law enforcement agencies."
Statewide, most major crime categories have remained stable or continue to trend downward with three major offence categories recording significant falls, dropping to their lowest levels in 15 years.
- Break and enter-dwelling - down 4.9 per cent
- Steal from person - down 12.1 per cent
- Fraud - down 7.7 per cent
Only one of the 17 major categories, steal from retail store, has shown an increase, up 5.4 per cent, which is possibly the result of increased reporting of incidents and prosecutions.
"Putting the community first and ensuring frontline police have the ability and support to prevent, disrupt and respond to crime quickly and efficiently is beginning to pay dividends," Commissioner Fuller said.
"While the results are heartening, there is still more work to be done to build a more efficient structure for the future of policing in NSW."
Possession of cocaine has trended up by 33.7 per cent, while most other drug offences have trended down or remained stable.
In line with the state-wide trend, crime is either stable or declining across regional NSW apart from a few exceptions.
Two regional areas (Newcastle LGA and Broken Hill LGA) have shown increases in several major offence categories, including sexual assault, property and motor vehicle theft.
"The appointment of a dedicated Regional Deputy Commissioner and the introduction of dedicated Region Enforcement Squads (RES) for regional areas; will further enhance police capabilities to target and respond to all levels of rural crime," Commissioner Fuller said.
"Police officers across the state work diligently every day to put the communities they serve first and I am pleased to see these results are continuing to reflect their hard work."
