The message to the Dubbo community is report crime at any time.
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Crime Stoppers and the NSW Police Force were at the Dubbo Show amid a rollout of a state-wide campaign aimed to address the awareness of regional crimes, prevention measures and encourage reporting to Crime Stoppers.
"All of this is designed with one thing in mind, and that is to make rural communities more prosperous," CEO of Crime Stoppers Peter Price said.
"We can't do that without the community's help. We really need people to give us information about what's happening in their communities.
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"It doesn't matter whether it's illegal hunting, stock theft, diesel theft or water theft, the bottom line is if you suspect a crime or know information about a crime then Crime Stoppers would like to know."
In NSW more than 80 per cent of farmers have reported being a victim of crime, according to research by the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.
Research also showed 59 per cent of farmers believed crime was increasing and 70 per cent classifying crime in their local area as serious or very serious.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie said the region had suffered greatly over the last few years with drought, COVID and now the mice plague, and the last thing they needed was more disaster.
"If you fall victim to a crime as well, it just adds to that bucket of problems that rural producers are facing at the moment," he said.
Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said contacting Crime Stoppers was important so police could take action, and was completely anonymous.
"Largely someone always knows something about crime," he said.
"I continually talk to people about the importance of the smallest piece of information that can be that missing jigsaw puzzle piece that police are looking for to often solve very serious crimes.
"People need to take this very seriously and understand if a producer these days loses five head of cattle or 50 head of sheep, that's a massive impact on what is already a very difficult environment to operate in. So people need to take it seriously."
Crime in regional areas is not new, however it continues to be a growing area of concern for the whole of NSW, not just the farming community and therefore it needs a whole of community approach.
The community awareness campaign will run state-wide for a 12-month period. Crime Stoppers will be visiting regional communities to engage with communities in an effort to help reduce crime and increase reporting.
The Crime Stoppers contact centre operates 24/7, 365 days a year and all information captured is in complete confidence.
- You can help by reporting anything suspicious, strange, or concerning.
- Any piece of information, anything you have seen or heard, may be crucial in preventing or solving a crime.
- Call or click Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000/ nsw.crimestoppers.com.au
- For a crime in progress call Triple Zero (000). Save Triple Zero for Emergencies (000)