Crime continues to trend down in Moree, despite a spike in assaults over the past year, according to the latest statistics.
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The latest quarterly crime figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) revealed the number of sexual and indecent assaults rose by 53 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively, in the 12 months to September 2019.
There were 40 sexual assaults in the year to September, up from 26 the previous year, and 33 indecent assaults compared to 20 in 2018.
Despite the spike, New England Police District Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Ann Joy said it's not a consistent trend.
"You don't tend to find a consistent trend or reason with an increase in sexual assault or offences of that nature, unless there's a serial offender, which we certainly don't have," she said.
"There's no consistent link with those offences."
Other than stealing from motor vehicles and fraud, which both saw a slight increase over the past year, all other major crime categories have fallen in the 12 months to September 2019.
Robberies in particular dropped significantly in the past year; robbery with a weapon, not a firearm, fell from five incidences to zero, while robbery without a weapon decreased by 69 per cent, from 13 incidences to only four.
Over the past two years, Moree has seen some significant falls in four of the major crime issues in town.
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Business break-ins have dropped by 33 per cent in the two years to September 2019, while break and enters to homes fell by 22 per cent.
Vehicle theft has gone down by 28 per cent and non-domestic violence related assault has seen a 16 per cent decrease.
Detective Inspector Joy said this is reflective of the downward trend of the past few years.
"I think we've seen over the last couple of years a steady reduction in the number of crime categories," she said.
"We still get spikes in incidents of crime, but the frequency and level of our crime statistics is certainly on a downwards trend."
Crime rates in Moree have been decreasing over the past five years, with violent offences down by 6 per cent and property offences down 15 per cent, although both are still about three times the state average.
Detective Inspector Joy said this confirms that police's efforts, particularly when it comes to preventative strategies targeting young offenders over the past few years, are making an impact.
"Across the board, we're certainly looking fairly promising," she said.
"We're certainly working hard with our young people. Our focus is a lot on engaging the young people in terms of services. A focus is on preventing crime at the outset and at the earliest possible time, so we hope that continues to show that improvement in crime rates, because a lot of it is young offenders."