CRIME in the Shoalhaven has increased in the past 12 months, defying State-wide trends.
In what is sure to add weight to calls for more police in the region, annual crime statistics for the Shoalhaven local government area show many types of offences are on the rise.
Figures released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research showed crime in the Shoalhaven was stable or up in all of the 17 major offence categories.
Crime figures for the Shoalhaven were reported as being stable in 15 of those categories, while break and enter to dwellings was up 19.2 per cent to 771 cases in the year ended September 30, 2008, while break and enters to non-dwellings were up 14.7 per cent to 469 cases.
These contributed to the number of offences occurring across the Shoalhaven in the major crime categories rising from 6002 in 2007 to 6219 in 2008.
Outside of the major categories the figures showed incidents of offensive language in the Shoalhaven were up 76.4 per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year, with 97 instances, resisting or hindering a police officer was up 62.2 per cent to 159 cases, harassment, threatening behaviour and private nuisance increased 26.9 per cent to 453, and trespass rose 37.7 per cent to 179 cases.
The total number of offences recorded in the Shoalhaven for the year was 9548, compared to 9057 the previous year – an increase across the board of 5.4 per cent.
None of the crime categories in the Shoalhaven recorded a significant drop in incidents.
In contrast the state figures showed reductions in the rate of robbery with a firearm (down 26.0 per cent), robbery with a weapon other than a firearm (19.2 per cent), domestic violence related assaults (8.0 per cent), break and enter to dwellings (4.9 per cent), break and enter to non-dwellings (6.4 per cent), steal from dwelling (7.8 per cent) and steal from person (9.6 per cent).
The only major crime category to increase across NSW in 2008, compared with the previous year, was fraud which was up 19.1 per cent, with the increase blamed on incidents in and around Sydney.
State Member for Kiama, Matt Brown, attributed the increased crime numbers to people being more willing to report offences, which he said was “a good thing”.
However South Coast MP Shelley Hancock said the figures showed the community had been correct in its concerns about crime.
“This is a vindication of what the community has been saying about crime, about the need for more police, and about the need for a police station in the central Shoalhaven,” Mrs Hancock said.
“It’s clear the presence of police is a deterrent for crime.”
Mrs Hancock said the State Government had claimed crime levels were decreasing in all categories, however this was clearly not the case in the Shoalhaven, “especially with domestic violence”.
She said the figures were not due to a lack of effort on behalf of local police, but rather a lack of police resources.
Repeated attempts to discuss the crime figures with local police brought no response.