Michael O'Keefe says he has been robbed, assaulted and threatened at knifepoint more times than he can count during his 11-year tenancy in West Dubbo.
Crime is on the rise in the region, according to data from the Bureau of Crimes Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which shows break-and-enter rates are 4.7 times worse than the New South Wales average.
Mr O'Keefe, a former truck driver, lives on Alcheringa Street, which he says is routinely terrorised by gangs of youths that roam the neighbourhood.
"I sleep with one eye open," Mr O'Keefe said.
"They've tried to bust in the back there, they've tried this front window — one of them walked straight in one night when my friend forgot to lock the door.
"They will try anything."
Mr O'Keefe said the offenders, some of whose families he was familiar with, ranged from six to 15 years of age.
He said it was especially bad during the summer holidays, but gangs were also seen up and down the street during school hours.
Mr O'Keefe said he had rocks thrown at his car, decorations stolen from his lawn and, on one occasion, a stolen vehicle rammed into his water meter.
A nearby Alcheringa Street resident reported a similar incident when she returned home one day to find a stolen car ploughed through the front of her house.
Against the trend
Between September 2021 and September 2022, crime rates in the Dubbo Regional Council area increased in most categories.
In the 2021 period there were 599 reported break-and-enters, 208 store robberies and 603 domestic violence reports.
In the 2022 period there were 796 reported break-and-enters, 304 store robberies and 674 reports of domestic violence.
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said crime was trending down in the rest of the state.
"In the year to September 2022 police recorded a staggering 33 per cent fewer residential break-ins than five years ago," Ms Fitzgerald said.
"We are actually seeing a general reduction in criminality, particularly amongst young people."
Disengaged youth
Before retiring in 2022, Paul Woodhead worked with disengaged students in Dubbo through his in-school welfare program, Circus West.
The retired teacher taught circus and gymnastics skills to at-risk kids as a way to increase school engagement and attendance.
Mr Woodhead said teachers faced much higher pressures now than when he started his teaching career in 1979.
"There's a huge non-teaching workload and teachers are now pressured and frazzled — they go into the classrooms already struggling," he said.
"To get the best out of kids, and to get the best results in any kind of test, you have to develop a positive relationship with kids."
