In response to the rise, NSW Police have begun ‘Operation Regional Mongoose’, to tackle the issue.

The operation will roll out across the NSW Western Region; ranging from Broken Hill in the West, the Queensland border to the North, the New England region in the East, and as far South as Cowra.

It is expected to “run for several months” but can be extended as long as necessary.

Acting Western Region Commander, Superintendent Bob Noble reassured that it was “not an epidemic” but there was a noticeable enough increase in serious property-related crime to require an escalated response.

“Most prevalent of late we’ve seen an increase in offending by young people, some of these offences are very concerning,” he said.

“They do at times involved breaking into people’s homes, frequently there are people within those dwellings at the time of the offences.”

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Worryingly, there have been acts of violence committed on the persons within those dwellings and in some cases weapons have been wielded and used by the offenders.”

Overall, while Break & Enter Dwelling remains officially 'stable' across a five year period, in the latest crime trend statistics for the Orana Far West Region rates are still well over the 1000 incidents for the year.

In the same period, Break & Enter Non-Dwelling and Motor Vehicle Theft have surged across the region by 39.9% and 30.6% respectively.

And while young offenders are not always involved, their participation in crime across local communities remains a serious concern.

Superintendent Noble says they will be undertaking a mix of high visibility and covert approaches to combat increased crime rates.

“Uniformed police in marked cars targeting crime hotspots,” he said.

He says they will also “invoke covert strategies and other tactics to identify and detect offenders and put them before the court.”

The operation will also involve traffic and highway patrol, forensic services, youth engagement officers, and dog squads among other policing units where necessary.

There are concerns the problem is getting worse due to criminals trying to out-do each other.

“There is a component where social media is driving this sort of activity, and very strong evidence that offenders are uploading videos and photos of the crimes they’re committing,” said Supt Noble.

“In some cases this is driving a form of ‘one-upmanship’ and that is very concerning.”

“That can only end in tragedy”

NSW Police are calling on all sectors of the community to address the issue.

“Drought and the potential economic downturn usually doesn’t help crime, so we’re wanting to get on the front foot,” said Supt Noble.

“At this stage the operation is planned to run for several months but we’ll run it as long as we need too to ensure our communities are safe.”

“Do what you can to minimise the risk of becoming victims: locking your home, not leaving your keys in cars, if you can secure your car in a garage I suggest you do so.”