A STATEMENT issued by the Country Labor candidate for Dubbo accusing Mayor Mathew Dickerson of misleading the public about what sparked the recent sentencing debate loses sight of "the bigger picture", the mayor says.
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Cr Dickerson said the community had expressed concerns about increasing petty crime in Dubbo, and when he investigated crime statistics earlier this year "the community's concerns appeared valid".
"Steal from retail store went up from 193 in 2010 to 347 in 2013 (80 per cent), steal from motor vehicle was up from 450 to 632 (40 per cent), motor vehicle theft was up from 146 to 185 (27 per cent)," he said.
All of that had happened, Cr Dickerson said, despite there being more police and better policing programs.
"Earlier in the year I met with the local magistrate and also started making enquiries (through our local member) about sentencing data to see if the community's concerns about increased petty crime correlated with more lenient sentencing," he said.
Cr Dickerson said he wanted facts to have a sensible debate on whether there was a link between crime and sentencing.
"I was happy to continue making my enquiries to try and find out if the data supported the hypothesis from the community," he said.
Cr Dickerson maintained the Orana Legal Service (OLS) had started the public debate.
"At the end of September I was asked to comment on a media release issued by OLS. I did not put out a media release nor did I chase the media in relation to this. I responded to the media enquiries," he said.
"What we need now are valid solutions to the issues at hand. That is the bigger picture."
