The NSW Police Commissioner has welcomed new figures showing some categories of serious crime at their lowest recorded levels in more than 20 years.

Today the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) released an update of long-term trends in property and violent crime.  It has also released its latest 24 month Recorded Crime report.

According to the independent statistician, per capita rates of some crime in 2012 were significantly lower than in 1990:

• murder (51% lower),
• motor vehicle theft (73% lower),
• break and enter non-dwelling (65% lower),
• break and enter dwelling (45% lower),
• robbery with a weapon not a firearm (29% lower),
• robbery with a firearm (71% lower), and
• robbery without a weapon (26% lower).

For the most part, crime rates increased in the 1990s and peaked in 2001; however, since 2001 significant reductions have occurred which have had a massive impact on our community.

For example, in 2012 alone there were more than 35,000 less incidents of motor vehicle theft than there were in 2001 (53,768 in 2001 and 18,221 in 2012).  If this rate had continued at the 2001 level, there would have been over 290 000 more motor vehicle thefts since 2001.

There were almost 39,000 less incidents of break and enter into dwellings, compared to 2001 (79.345 in 2001 and 40,487 in 2012).  If this had continued at the 2001 level, there would have been over 335 000 more break and enters into dwellings since 2001.

And more than 35,000 less incidents of break and enter into non-dwellings, such as commercial premises, compared to 2001 (52,223 in 2001 and 16,245 in 2012).  If this had continued at that rate, there would have been over 295, 000 more break and enters into non-dwellings since 2001.

In 2012, there were over 6,000, or 9%, less assaults in NSW than there were five years ago in 2008.

In the second BOCSAR report released today, 16 of the 17 major offence categories have remained stable or are trending downwards in the 24 months to December 2012.

The surge in incidents involving the discharge of a firearm into premises, which began in February 2010, has been reversed.  In August 2012, they peaked at an average rate of 11 per month and by December 2012 they were back down to 6.7 per month.

According to the Director of BOCSAR, Dr Don Weatherburn, overall, shooting incidents are down from their peaks between 2001 and 2003.

The report also says fraud was the only one out of the 17 major offence types to increase – by 14.6 per cent.

Dr Weatherburn said “the significant uptrend in fraud is centred at business/commercial premises and especially service stations and supermarket service stations, indicating that the increase in fraud is more widespread than petrol fail-to-pay incidents.

“Together, these two type of fraud accounted for 34.7 per cent of all reported fraud offences in 2012 and 39.8 per cent of the increase.”

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione welcomed the drop in crime, saying BOCSAR figures showed only one of the 17 major offence type had increased.

He also pointed to a decline on assaults in licensed premises by 9.5 per cent.

The most significant upward trend in the past 24 months was petrol fraud, which Mr Scipione said was a preventable crime.

He continues to recommend petrol stations adopt a US model of pay-before-you-pump.

“These latest figures show the efforts we are making are working, but there is still much work to be done” Mr Scipione said.

“Crime prevention and crime reduction is a community partnership.    We can’t do it by ourselves.  As the old saying goes – the community is our eyes and ears.  Tell us what you see, tell us what you hear and we will act.”