Geraldton burglaries and stealing offences slashed thanks to COVID-19 and targeted policing

Burglaries and stealing offences in the Mid West have been more than halved compared to the same time last year, with a top police officer attributing the drop to more people working from home and targeted police operations. But the easing of COVID-19 restrictions has been blamed for an increase in non-family assaults, with more people heading back to pubs. Burglaries in the Mid West-Gascoyne district plummeted 58.2 per cent in July to September compared with the same period in 2019, while stealing was down 53.5 per cent and reported instances of property damage also fell 16.8 per cent. Family assaults also reduced in the third quarter of 2020, 13.1 per cent, but non-family assaults were up slightly, 10.9 per cent. Overall offences against property decreased dramatically from 1243 to 713 this year — a drop of 42.6 per cent — while total offences against a person saw a slight fall from 630 to 573, or 9 per cent. Mid West-Gascoyne District Police Acting Supt Tony Jeavons said the crime downturn was a result of fewer opportunities being available to thieves through police work and because people had been working from home because of the fallout from COVID-19. “From a policing perspective we are very pleased with the downturn in many of the crimes throughout the Mid West and it comes off the back of some great work in a couple of large local police operations throughout the year specifically aimed at reducing this criminal behaviour,” he said. “It has also been somewhat helped by the earlier community restrictions imposed by COVID, allowing many people to work from home, which helped reduce the opportunities normally available to thieves. That being said, we have also noticed our non-family assaults increase marginally, but largely attribute these to easing of the social restrictions, allowing the community to mingle more freely back at licensed premises and other public locations, which we are now focusing some attention to reduce these assaults in line with other crimes.” His comments came just days before police charged a 22-year-old Geraldton man with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in Rangeway on September 5. City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said the community had felt the absence of larger rates of serious crimes. “We acknowledge the fantastic work local police have been doing bringing crime rates down in the region and we certainly hope that does continue,” he said. “Out in the community the consensus has been that crime was down, although we still hear some complaints, largely people having their bin pushed over or rocks thrown at a car. “But when that’s your biggest issue, things are looking all right.”