NSW: Armed robbery rates fall - except in Bankstown =2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2006
NSW: Armed robbery rates fall - except in Bankstown =2

The statewide rate for harassment, threatening behaviour and public nuisance rose 13
per cent, offensive conduct was up 13.1 per cent and bail breaches increased by 10.4 per
cent.

Bureau director Don Weatherburn said this was the fifth year in a row there had been
major drops in most of the major categories of property crime in NSW.

The rise in malicious damage was mainly due to an increase in recorded incidents of
graffiti, he said.

"Remember that assault and sexual assault are stable at the moment, but they have risen
over the past 10 to 15 years, so they have levelled off at a higher point," Dr Weatherburn
told reporters.

"But generally speaking things have improved again since the peak year of 2000 when
crime rates were at their worst in this state."

The rise in robbery in the Canterbury/Bankstown area was mainly attributed to a 61.3
per cent increase in robbery with a weapon not a firearm, in the suburb of Bankstown.

"That's a pretty big jump. Obviously if you're living in Bankstown it's a considerable
worry," Dr Weatherburn said.

"Obviously the police need to deal with it quickly, otherwise the problem could spread
... these are things that you don't confine to the `don't worry about' bin because they
are only happening in one area."

Despite a surge in shooting incidents in the first three months of this year, particularly
in Sydney's south-west, Dr Weatherburn said it was too early to tell if this was a permanent
trend.

"The trend in shooting incidents in the last two years has been stable and the trend
over the last five years has been down," he said.

"It's too soon to say whether that trend is going to reverse itself, January was a
terrible month for murder but the February and March figures were right on the average."

Not until June would there be a clearer indication if shooting murders were bucking
a five-year trend and increasing.

AAP nr/smb/wjf/de

KEYWORD: CRIME 2 SYDNEY

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