Stealing spike as tough times bite

A JUMP in the number of people who have driven off and not paid for petrol, or stolen from shops, in Campbelltown is a sign more residents have been feeling pain in the hip pocket, police say.

Detective Inspector Ward Hanson, local crime manager, said officers would continue to crack down on fraud, retail thefts and stealing from cars after the latest figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research revealed an increase in those incidents in the two years to June 2012.

Statistics showed there had been a 24 per cent hike in incidents of fraud, a 14 per cent jump in retail theft and stealing from motor vehicles had risen by 25 per cent.

"Steal from retail is a concern and it's a reflection of harder economic times," Detective Inspector Hanson said.

"We can provide information to retailers but a lot of what goes on inside their store is out of our control and a lot of times it's reported to police on detection.

"I'd say more than 40 per cent of fraud is failing to pay for fuel."

On the flip-side, the number of unarmed robberies in Campbelltown fell by a whopping 42 per cent in the past two years — more rapidly than in any other Sydney region.

The city also recorded a 21 per cent drop in assaults and a 10 per cent dive in malicious damage.

"A large contributing factor in the drop in assaults is us targeting alcohol-related crime."

He said police would continue to focus on high visibility patrols and would also target repeat offenders and local crime hot-spots in an effort to stay on top of offenders. The local findings mirrored statewide trends and all other major offences were stable.

A typical week in Campbelltown:

-18 domestic assaults

-3 sexual assaults

-18 other assaults

-3 sex offences

-3 robberies

-30 break and enters

-12 car thefts

-2 cases of stealing from a motor vehicle

-13 retails thefts

-15 cases of fraud

-47 cases of malicious property damage.