Northern beaches crime rates: Police commended for reduced offences in burglaries, shop lifting

COVID-19 has led to a big drop in the number of burglars and shop lifters plying their trade on the northern beaches, but violent crime stats remain stable. SEE ALL THE STATS HERE.

House break-ins on the northern beaches have dropped by 40 per cent thanks to proactive police work and the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: Supplied

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There has been a massive drop in the number of burglaries, shop lifting offences and malicious damage incidents on the northern beaches over the past two years, latest official crime stats show.

And the number of violent offences including sexual assault and domestic abuse remained relatively stable in the two years to June 2020.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which complied the Recorded Crime Statistics Quarterly Update, put the drop in crime down to the social isolation measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of cars being stolen on the northern beaches has dropped slightly. Picture: Supplied

Northern Beaches Police were also commended for their work in keeping crime levels down or stable.

There was a 40 per cent drop in the number of break-and-enters in homes on the northern beaches in the two-year period. In the 12 months to June this year there were 235 local burglaries recorded compared to 393 in the previous year.

Shop lifting offences dropped by 33 per cent, to 463, in the year to June 2020 compared with 692 in the previous 12 months.

Shop lifting has fallen by one third. Picture: Supplied

Malicious damage to property fell by 17 per cent to 1130 offences. In the 12 months to June 2019, 1373 offences were listed.

The BOCSAR report said all other major offences were stable on the northern beaches including sexual assault even though across NSW the incidents had climbed by 9.4 per cent.

In the 12 months to June this year, there were 121 sexual assaults reported on the peninsula, compared with 125 in the previous 12 months.

Local domestic violence-related assaults numbered 422, down from 481. Assaults fell slightly from 650 to 614.

Malicious damage to property is also trending down. Picture: Morgan Sette

The number of cars being stolen on the northern beaches fell from 219 to 171.

A BOCSAR spokesman said research showed that crime fell sharply in April this year, coinciding with strict social isolation strategies introduced to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It also seems likely that, as restrictions are relaxed and NSW residents resume regular activities, crime rates will return to normal levels,” BOCSAR executive director, Jackie Fitzgerald said.

State Liberal MP for Manly James Griffin praised the hard work of officers in the Northern Beaches Police Area Command for their proactive work in detecting and preventing crime.

Northern Beaches Police have been praised for helping keep crime rates down. Picture: Supplied

“Increased community awareness and reporting as well as more police proactively targeting criminals are also reflected in BOCSAR’s results,” Mr Griffin said.

Mr Griffin said the State Government was recruiting 1,500 new police.

“Community safety is our number one priority and this major boost in police means we’ll continue to have more police doing the right jobs in the right places to help keep people safe, now more important than ever.”

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