One of the state’s most senior police officers has refused to be drawn too much on comments from a Dubbo councillor that crime in the city isn’t dropping.
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Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie fronted the media at Dubbo Police Station on Tuesday to outline the good work being done across the western region area he oversees, and was adamant that the majority of crime categories have seen declines in the Dubbo local government area.
Earlier this week, Councillor Stephen Lawrence called reports of falling crime statistics ‘spin and exaggeration’.
“The only way to get a real picture is to look at longer term trends,” he said.
“The picture that emerges from the BOCSAR statistics is that Dubbo LGA over the six full years of this government’s reign has seen drops in no main categories of crime.
“In every main category for which data is available crime is rising or merely stable. Overall crime is clearly rising.”
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When asked about Mr Lawrence’s claims that last week’s statistics had been misrepresented by NSW Police Minister Troy Grant and Orana Mid-Western Police District commander Peter McKenna, Mr McKechnie was firm in his response.
“It doesn’t matter to me which way you look at those numbers and the numbers I get, there’s been a tremendous reduction in what we call volume-crime offences here in Dubbo and in other parts of Orana Mid-Western District,” he said.
“Crime rates across the world largely have dropped over the past 10-15 years and in Australia that has been replicated largely, and in NSW.
“But Orana Mid-Western, in particular the last two or three years, we’ve seen really significant drop offs in a number of different types of offences, and that’s for a number of reasons.
“We’re doing some fantastic work as police organisations, other organisations are chipping in as well, the economy is good, unemployment is low – there’s many factors around that.”
