Dubbo Regional Council knocks back motion for crime summit

Dubbo Regional Council knocked back the idea of a crime summit at its most recent meeting. It will instead work with already established groups to develop a community safety strategy and associated action plan.

Councillor Dickerson said he believed holding a crime summit would be outside of the council's lane and would send an "incredibly bad" image for the state or entire country.

"I think we can address some of these problems in a whole range of different ways...so I will certainly vote against this motion," he said.

With 483 retail thefts and 526 car thefts in the Orana and Far West region in 2022, councillor Josh Black pushed hard for the summit.

He stated it was important to get decision makers, stakeholders and the local community under one roof to talk about what could be done to bring crime rates down within the region.

"We see crime everyday on different Facebook pages, we talk to people at the shops, we hear sirens from police chases and then we see burnt out cars around town the next morning, Dubbo has a problem with property crime, domestic violence and family violence," he said.

"Crime does go through cycles and spikes but Dubbo is persistently well above the state average and travelling in the wrong direction."

In the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data it shows a 39.2 percent increase on vehicle thefts and a 34.5 percent increase in retail thefts.

In June 2022 there were 64 retail thefts recorded in the Orana and Far West region, 20 more than the highest amount of 44 in 2021.

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Cr Black said the council could "do better" than sit back and say crime isn't part of the region.

"Denying that crime is a problem, often from a position of privilege is not going to get the action taken that we need to break the cycle of crime and re-offending," he said.

Councillor Jessica Gough, who was against the idea of a crime summit, said she didn't deny there was a problem, and that 'everyone has been affected by crime at some stage'.

"I don't know if the solution is bringing down a bunch of suits and bringing the media in saying 'look at our crime problem'," she said.

"We already know community groups are working together in cohesion to make some solutions."

Seven of the 10 councillors opposed the decision, with councillor Matthew Wright foreshadowing an amendment by suggesting the Social Justice and Youth Committees call out Government agencies and community stakeholders to develop a Community Safety Strategy and Associated Action Plan.

"Council is working with community groups and police, coming up with solutions on a local level and utilising some of those NGO's and well-funded services that are already in the city," Cr Wright said.

"I'm not sure that a crime summit and bringing a bus full of politicians to town is going to give us any more resources than we currently have."