The number of break and enters taking place in the Central West continues to remain down compared to pre-pandemic levels, however domestic violence and sexual assaults have increased.
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But those numbers in our backyard, despite the downturn, remain significantly higher than the rest of the state.
New statistics released in December by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show a statewide trend of the volume of property crime recorded by police remaining significantly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said, state-wide police recorded 33 per cent fewer residential break-ins in the year to September 2022, compared to five years ago.
"We know that many crimes fell sharply during the COVID lockdowns; fortunately for the community, many property crimes are yet to recover," she said.
However, the change in the Central West was less noticeable with a five-year decrease of 16.4 per cent when it came to break and enters into dwellings and 11.8 per cent fewer break and enters into non-dwellings. The decrease was less than experienced in other regional areas of NSW.
In the Central West there were 876 break and enter offences recorded at dwellings in the 12 months to September 2022, and there were 387 break and enters into non-dwellings.
Still, that was 2.8 times more, per 100,000 people, than the NSW average when it came to break and enters into dwellings, and 2.5 times more for non-dwellings.
That was down from 1048 break and enters into dwellings and 439 into non-dwellings in the Central West in 2018.
In the 12 months to September 2022, there were 94 break and enters into dwellings in the Orange Local Government Area and 147 break and enters into non-dwellings.
In the previous 12 months, to September 2021, the number of break and enters into dwellings was down from 920 in Central West and 95 in Orange, but when it came to non-dwellings the 2021 figure was 382 for the Central West and 102 for Orange.
The Orange ratio of recorded criminal incidents per 100,000 population for break and enters was more than double the NSW rate, with a ratio of 2.8 for break and enters at dwellings and 2.5 for non dwellings.
By contrast, there were significant increases of police reports of domestic violence assault and sexual assaults over the last five years.
Domestic violence rates
In the five years to September 2022, domestic violence assault increased 13.1 per cent in NSW.
However, in the Central West it increased by a whopping 29.7 per cent in that same five-year period.
In the 12-months to September 2022, there were 1406 domestic violence assaults reported in the Central West and 365 in the Orange LGA.
We know that many crimes fell sharply during the COVID lockdowns.
- BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald
That figure was up from 310 domestic violence assaults in the previous 12 months in Orange and 1084 in the Central West in 2018.
State-wide, sexual assault increased by 25.9 per cent in the five-year reporting period. Over that same time frame, it increased by 21.3 per cent in the Central West.
In the Central West area there were 307 sexual assaults and 304 cases of sexual touching and other sexual offences In the 12 months to September 2022.
Five years ago there were 253 sexual assaults and 308 other sexual offences in the Central West.
In Orange there were 87 reported sexual assaults and 65 cases of sexual touching and other sexual offences in the 12 months to September 2022, and it the previous 12 months those figures were 84 and 90 respectively.
The five-year increase in domestic and sexual assaults was driven by increases in both metropolitan Sydney areas and regional communities. For domestic assaults, the largest increases were seen in Murray (up 48 per cent), Sutherland (up 45 per cent) and Baulkham Hills (up 40 per cent).
The biggest increases in recorded incidents of sexual assault were seen in Sutherland, up 80 per cent; Hunter Valley, up 50 per cent; Southern Highlands, up 46 per cent; and Inner West Sydney, up 42 per cent.
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