A steep rise in the number of cases of thefts from motor vehicles at Muswellbrook was at least partly to do with a spate of incidents involving a group of juveniles allegedly committing robberies in the area, Hunter Valley Police District acting commander Superintendent Joanne Schultz says.
According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data released this week, thefts from vehicles jumped by 133.9 per cent in the Muswellbrook local government area in the two years to March 2022.
It comes amid a 15 per cent decrease in property crime - thefts, break-ins, malicious damage - across the Hunter Valley region and a drop of 14.1 per cent in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie over three years.
Superintendent Schultz said there was a range of factors that could have contributed to the rise, but she said several teenagers allegedly involved in a spate of thefts from motor vehicles recently in her district and the neighbouring Oxley Police District had been caught.
"High-visibility and proactive patrols were increased to target these [alleged] offenders, resulting in numerous teens charged with dozens of property-related offences," she said.
Regarding an almost 30 per cent drop in the number of break and enters at homes at Cessnock in the past two years, Superintendent Schultz said COVID-19 was partly responsible, along with police targeting repeat offenders.
"These proactive patrols by officers targeting property crime and break and enters have directly resulted in multiple arrests and a decrease in offences," she said. "Hunter Valley PD continues to target known property offenders via STMP [Suspect Targeting Management Plan] and other intelligence."
According to the data, violent crime in the Hunter Valley increased by 2.7 per cent in the three years to March.
"There is a small number of reported cases of violent crime in the Hunter region, as such, any singular incident can result in a significant increase in the statistics," Superintendent Schultz said.
