14 September 2004
Break-ins, Property Damage Down in Darwin
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There were 2663 less property offences in Darwin in the year to June 2004 compared to figures for the same period in 2002/03 - and 39 less offences against the person.
The figures are part of the Quarterly Crime and Justice Statistics compiled by the Office of Crime Prevention released today covering the June 04 quarter.
Justice Minister Dr Peter Toyne said this fall sustains a consistent reduction in property crime since the statistics started to be compiled two years ago.
“It’s a truly remarkable turnaround, we have 2663 less property offences over the past 12 months, that’s 2663 less people who have had property damaged or stolen,” Dr Toyne said.
“Our targeted programs are working, police and the community are working to identify trouble spots and then fix them,” Dr Toyne said.
The year-to-year comparisons of the financial years 02/03 to 03/04 show house break-ins were down 20 percent or 275 less offences and commercial break-ins were down 35 percent or 339 less offences.
Dr Toyne said the figures reflected work being done in the area of crime reduction and prevention.
“We’ve increased police numbers and we’ve seen a number of police initiatives aimed at addressing juvenile crime and general property crime,’’ he said.
“As well, there are several programs being funded through our Crime Prevention Grant scheme including $10,000 for Believe in Yourself - a Corrugated Iron Youth Theatre project aiming to help raise awareness of crime prevention issues in young people through the performing arts.
“And funding has been given to the Darwin Regional Crime Prevention Council and Darwin City Council to develop crime prevention strategies and action plans.
“Our approach is multi-layered including many agencies across government and the community.”
The break-down of the yearly comparison figures also show an increase in reported sexual assault case numbers – eight percent or 10 additional offences in the year.
The Government’s new Sexual Assault Taskforce established in December is tackling this area by co-ordinating efforts across Government and developing a targeted action plan to reduce these offences in our community.
Year to Year comparisons:
This data compares figures from one 12 month period to the next. Among the other key findings comparing the total number of offences in the 12 months to June 04 to the total number of offences in the 12 months to June 03:
- robberies decreased by 29% (14 less offences)
- assaults decreased by 3% (32 less offences)
- property damage decreased by 24% (1192 less offences)
- motor vehicle theft and related offences decreased by 19% (279 less offences)
Quarter to Quarter comparisons:
Quarterly comparisons are the figures from the March 04 quarter (January/February/March) compared to the figures from the June 04 quarter (April/May/June). Key findings include:
- total number of offences against the person were down by 33% (112 less offences)
- assaults decreased by 34% (96 less offences)
- sexual assaults down by 34% (11 less offences)
- total number of property offences were down 24% (678 less offences)
- house break-ins decreased 9% (26 less offences)
- commercial break-ins decreased by 44% (99 less offences)
- motor vehicle theft and related offences down by 38% (131 less offences)
- property damage down 32% (331 less offences)
Trends:
Trends are detected when there is an upward or downward movement in recorded crime levels of the last 12 months’ data. There were no trends identified for offences in Darwin .
June Quarter 2004 Crime and Justice Statistics and Regional Fact Sheets are available online at www.crimeprevention.nt.gov.au
NOTE:
- The preceding statistics are a measure of recorded crime across the Territory.
- The data is collected from the Police Real-time On-line Management Information System.
- Nationally it is recognised that there are varying levels of un-reported crime in our community but that recorded crime is the best available measure of changes in the level of crime in a community.
- Statistics in the Territory can be highly volatile, with large swings from one period or another. This is particularly the case for regional centres where small populations and changes in operational or administrative procedures may heavily influence statistics.