Gungahlin’s crime rate has increased slightly over the past year, rising by 2 per cent in the last 12 months.
Statistics released by the Australian Federal Police indicate that (excluding traffic infringement notices) between April 2017 and March 2018 there were 34,187 reported offences in the ACT region, with 3907 generated in Gungahlin.
The statistics mark a marginal rise within the Gungahlin district of 83 more reports than the same period in the year prior.
Here’s an insight into Gungahlin’s crime statistics and how they compare to elsewhere in the ACT.
Crime rate
Between April 2017 and March 2018, 3907 crimes (excluding traffic-related notices) were reported in Gungahlin, ranging from property offences to assaults and burglary.
The figure represents a small rise on the 12 months prior when 3824 incidents were noted, and is a further increase on the same period in 2015-16 when only 3170 incidents were recorded in the Gungahlin district.
Serious crime does not factor highly in the statistics, with no homicides recorded in 2017-18, only one fatal traffic accident, no traffic accidents with injury, and 14 robberies.
Instead the bulk of incidents reported in 2017-18 included: other offences (1306), theft excluding motor vehicles (1139), property damage (565), burglary (363), assault (302), motor vehicle theft (159), sexual assault (35) offences against a person (23).
In comparison, from April 2016 to March 2017 the incidents reported were: other offences (1176), theft excluding motor vehicle (1125), property damage (580), burglary (367), assault (357), motor vehicle theft (115), sexual assault (61), offences against a person (29), robbery (12) road fatality (2) homicide (0), and road collision with injury (0).
The busiest month of the year
Although statistics vary from year to year, the busiest month for police in the Gungahlin district in 2017-2018 proved to be November when they dealt with 426 incidents.
The majority were thefts (not including motor vehicles), which comprised 171 of the incidents reported. This was significantly above the annual average of approximately 95 thefts reported in Gungahlin each month.
Other incidents reported in November 2017 were: other offences (144, compared to a monthly average of 108), property damage (35, compared to a monthly average of 47), burglary (28, compared to a monthly average of 30), assault (27, compared to a monthly average of 25), motor vehicle theft (17, compared to a monthly average of 13), offences against a person (2, compared to a monthly average of 2), robbery (2, compared to a monthly average of 1).
The quietest month of the year
The quietest month of the year for police in Gungahlin over the past 12 months was March 2018, with only 241 crimes reported.
During March 2018, the incidents reported were: Theft – excluding motor vehicles (86), other offences (86), property damage (26), assault (18), burglary (11), motor vehicle theft (10), robbery (2), offences against a person (1), sexual assault (1).
How Gungahlin compares
Gungahlin is one of only three areas in the ACT where crime has increased (albeit just slightly) in the past 12 months, with general statistics across the Territory indicating reported incidents are on the decline.
Territory-wide, reported crime dropped from 36,730 incidents (excluding traffic infringement notices) in 2016-17 to 34,187 in 2017-18. This year’s figure also marks a drop in reported crime on the same period in 2015-16 when 34,260 incidents were reported.
Although regions can’t be compared on a like for like basis due to the size of the policing region, population numbers and usage variations, Woden Creek was another area which saw a slight rise in reported crime, with 3258 incidents in 2017-18, compared to 3030 in 2016-17, and 2985 in 15/16.
Molonglo was also up, with 650 reported crimes in 2017-18, 472 in 2016-17 and 338 in 2015-16.
Meanwhile, Belconnen showed a decrease on 2016-17 with 7327 incidents this past year compared to 7539 previously.
The Inner North had 324 fewer incidents, dropping from 7598 in 2016-17 to 7274. Tuggeranong also experienced a sharp drop, falling from 6825 incidents in 2016-17 to 6222 in 2017-18.
The Inner South and Weston Creek both remained on par with the previous year, with 4042 and 1370 incidents respectively.
Notes about the statistics
The statistics used are drawn from downloaded data available at the ACT Policing Online News.
As they explain “numbers may fluctuate as new complainants come forward, more Traffic Infringement Notices are downloaded into the system, or when complaints are withdrawn”.
For the purposes of this article, traffic infringement data has not been included.
The site further explains there may be a straight-forward explanation for a spike in offences in a neighbourhood, such as historical cases that are finalised, while areas where there are only a small amount of reported incidents are likely to have a greater chance of dramatic percentage fluctuations.
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