Bourke, Walgett and Warren have more than one car theft each fortnight as new data shows the number of cars being stolen across the region has risen dramatically.

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) revealed its latest NSW crime statistics today showing there 33 car thefts in Bourke between December 2021 and December 2022 up from the 14 car thefts the previous year.

In Walgett, car thefts jumped to 42 from 33 and Warren experienced a large increase from 14 to 40. 

The latest data gives all our western plains communities a sobering report card across a range of crime categories.

There were 23 vehicles stolen in Narromine (up from 12) and 17 in Cobar (up for 7) during 2022 compared to 2021. 

The increases in car thefts follows similar state-wide trends identified in BOCSAR reports.

“In the two years to December 2022, two of the 13 major offences significantly increased and the remaining 11 were stable." 

"The two offences trending upwards were: Motor vehicle theft (up 17.0%), Steal from retail (up 23.7%)."

"Both vehicle theft and retail theft showed large declines during 2020 and 2021 coinciding with the pandemic. The recent increases indicate a return to pre-pandemic levels for these offences”.

It also reflects broader region trends with 510 car theft offences have recorded across the entire region during the last 12 months till December, a 25% increase on pandemic level car thefts according to the latest data released today.

Other crime categories

The local government areas of Coonamble, Walgett and Narromine are the three highest ranked LGAs for break and enters of non-residential premises in the state on a per head of population basis.

Gilgandra had a higher than state average of sexual assaults per capita.

Image: Pixabay. 

The most common crime in our towns is “malicious damage to property”- it was the most common category across all our major towns except Walgett which had a higher number of domestic violence related offences.

Malicious damage to property is defined as “intentional destruction or defacement of public or private property” section 195(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and can lead to up to five years imprisonment.

Coonamble topped the list of malicious damage offences at 101.

The next most common offence across the western plains is domestic violence related assaults, non-domestic violence followed by robberies. As of this latest quarterly update – car thefts were the fifth most common offence.

Crime levels dropped significantly during the pandemic which experts attribute to both restrictions stopping people from leaving the house and to higher rates of welfare payments.

An offence is recorded on the BOCSAR system when a crime is reported to, or detected by, the NSW Police.