Thefts, robberies in SA spike sharply in 2019, sparking a new political battle over police funding
Crimes of all kinds increased by eight per cent in SA in the year to December – despite drops in reports of assault, murder and homicide.
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Thefts and robberies in South Australia have spiked sharply in the past year, along with injuries from serious assaults, sparking a new political battle over police funding.
Latest figures released by SA Police show an eight per cent increase in all crimes in the 12 months to December.
That is despite major drops in reports of common assault, murder and homicides over the same time.
The biggest jump has been a more than doubling in serious assaults resulting in injury, up from 1162 in the 2018 calendar year to 2976 in the year to December 2019.
Also up are aggravated robberies, rising by 26 per cent to 485, and the theft or illegal use of motor vehicles.
More people are also stealing items from cars and shops.
Long-term trends had shown a steady drop in the number of crimes in SA each year, until a low of 102,118 offences in 2014.
Since then, crime rates stabilised before rising again to a six-year high in the 2018-19 year. Police recorded a 6 per cent rise in family abuse-related crimes in 2019.
Opposition police spokesman Lee Odenwalder blamed State Government “cuts” to law and order funding for the rising rate of crimes.
“The Marshall Liberal Government must immediately reverse its $38 million in cuts from SAPOL and community safety,” Mr Odenwalder, a former policeman, said.
“Every member of our community deserves to feel safe. It’s hard to make people feel safe when this Government remains intent on cutting funding for important services.”
Police Minister Corey Wingard said he was “sick of the Labor Party cherry picking statistics and questioning the work and dedication of SAPOL”.
“On the way out, Labor left close to $80 million in cuts to SAPOL’s budget,” he said.
“We have spent close to $80 million on building the safety and security of SA. I’m getting behind our police force and I’ve been pushing for, and delivering, more resources.”
Mr Wingard pointed to an $18.6 million spend on stage two of a new district-policing model as evidence, saying it would put more officers “back on the street” in communities.
“Crime against the person has actually come down. In fact, crime against person and property is down over the last 10 years, so it’s better today then it was 10 years ago,” he said.
Labor’s final State Budget, in 2017, allocated $832 million to police and predicted that would rise to $876 million by 2021.
This year, Treasurer Rob Lucas is expected to spend $957 million on police, rising to $969 million in 2021.
However, Mr Lucas imposed an operational savings target of $38 million over four years for SA Police in the 2018 State Budget.
It came as part of a broader savings drive he said was needed to balance the books.