The Central Coast likes to pride itself on being a little different from the rest.
Sure we share similar shops, beaches, and lifestyle to other urban areas of Australia. And sandwiched between Sydney and the Hunter, we overlap in a lot of other ways as well.
But there’s one way where Coasties are a cut above the rest. And not in a good way.
According to the NSW Recorded Crime Statistics 2016 report, while crime across most of NSW has either remained stable or in fact fallen over the last 2 years…it’s on the increase on the Coast.
Rates of robbery in NSW are back to where they were in the late 1970s, home burglary and motor vehicle theft are the lowest they’ve been since records began, in fact from January 2015 to December 2016, the only major offence to have increased across the state is steal from retail store (up 6.1%), an offence that has been on the increase for 6 successive quarters.
Incidentally the most commonly stolen items are liquor, clothing, cosmetics, toiletries and razors, followed by food (including drinks and lollies).
But stats show that sadly the Central Coast is leading the way in 5 of the 17 major offence areas:
- Domestic assault
- Indecent assault
- Break and enter- dwelling
- Steal from motor vehicles
- Malicious damage to property.
In these 5 areas, the Central Coast shares top billing with Western NSW for ‘significant increases’ in reporting criminal behaviour.
But considering recent reports of someone stealing from the SES (clickable link), it’s a trend that’s impacting even those who are here to help our community in times of crisis.
Across the State, 6 of the 17 crime categories have been trending downwards: robbery without a weapon (down 13.3%), robbery with a weapon not a firearm (down 13.9%), break and enter dwelling (down 6.2%), motor vehicle theft (down 7.3%), steal from person (down 13.3%) and fraud (down 3.9%).
But across the Coast, we’ve experienced a significant increase in domestic assault (up 21.5%), indecent assault (up 21.6%), break and enter-dwelling (up 12.6%), steal from motor vehicle (up 18.1%) and malicious damage to property (up 8.3%).
Overall, in the Gosford area:
Violent Offences are up 5.3%
Property Offences remain the same
And in Wyong:
Violent offences up 2.8%
Property Offences are stable
So, what can we do?
Get to know your neighbours (see more here)
Check in on the NSW Police Force Neighbourhood Watch website for crime prevention information. The program’s been running since 1984 and still offers advice to the Central Coast community either in a virtual reality or in real time.
Join an online group like NSW Central Coast Neighbourhood Watch & Chat to keep up with what’s going in in your area, and share tips to prevent unwelcome behaviour.
Search for a group in your neighbourhood, like Copacabana Community Website
Report any suspicious activity to Crimestoppers
In emergency call Triple Zero (000)
