JUST a few weeks out from Christmas and retailers in the Central West have been warned that the number of theft cases is increasing.
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In the past 12 months, there were 676 steal from retail store incidents reported to police, which is an increase of 23.6 per cent on the 547 cases during the previous year.
This week the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) released its report for the 12 months to September 2019, and it showed that in the Central West incidents in 14 of the 17 major offence categories had increased.
At least three homes were broken into every single day during the reporting period, with a total of 1226 break and enters reported to police.
This was a 17.1 per cent increase on the 1047 incidents the year before.
More motor vehicles were stolen this year, with the number jumping from 360 to 496. An increase of 37.8 per cent.
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The number of murders in the Central West also increased - from two to three.
There were more domestic violence related assaults, with cases spiking from 1082 to 1175, while non-domestic related assaults also increased from 1111 to 1163.
BOCSAR data, however, revealed that three of the major crime categories experienced a decline.
Among them were cases of fraud which dropped from 1159 to 1081 (down 6.7 per cent). Despite the decline, this was still equivalent to almost three fraud cases every single day.
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Malicious damage incidents also dropped from 2406 to 2260 (down 6.1 per cent), while steal from motor vehicle incidents declined from 1124 to 1071 (down 4.7 per cent).
Do you have information that police should know? Call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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