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NSW Records Lower Crime Rates
Significant
falls in crime rates have been recorded in New South Wales, especially
for property crimes, reflecting the national trend.
According to
figures released yesterday by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and
Research, the recorded incidence of robbery, breaking and entering and
theft all decreased by more than five per cent in the past two years.
Over
the 24 months to December 2004, the recorded incidence of robbery
without a weapon plummeted by 21.5 per cent, stealing from the person
dropped by 23.9 per cent and shoplifting fell by 16.8 per cent, while
motor vehicle theft fell five per cent.
Falling property crime
rates were part of a nationwide trend from about 2001, the Director of
the Bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn, noted.
He attributed the
decrease to dropping heroin consumption, with increasing numbers of
heroin users returning to methadone maintenance treatment. Other
factors were rising average weekly earnings, greater use of
imprisonment for burglary offenders by the NSW courts; and possibly a
fall in long-term unemployment among young men.
Premier Bob Carr credited police for the figures.
"It's
a consistent trendline and it reflects - as far as we're concerned -
the record police numbers, the police out in high-visibility mode, the
police hitting repeat offenders and the tougher laws that have put more
criminals behind bars," he said.
In other major categories of
crime, such as fraud, murder, assault, and robbery with a firearm,
there was little movement in numbers.
Overall, the decline in recorded crime was concentrated in the urban centres of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.
20 April, 2005
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