Tasmania Police report spike in crime statistics

ABC NEWS (Australia)

There's a been a significant rise in the number of criminal offences reported in Tasmania over the past financial year. From assaults to property damage victims are often left traumatised by the experience.

Transcript

00:00 There have been more than 32,000 offences reported by Tasmania Police in just 12 months,

00:07 a 26% increase on the previous year and well above the five-year average.

00:13 I think any time that statistics go up, particularly these crime statistics, it should be of a

00:20 concern.

00:20 Property crime, including burglaries, stolen motor vehicles and stealing accounted for

00:24 more than three quarters of all offences, with almost 25,000 property incidents reported

00:30 in the last year, a rise of 30%. Business owners among those affected.

00:36 There's definitely been a few violent altercations. I've had one or two where I've been hit.

00:42 A lot of the young kids that are hanging around the mall and just sort of causing a bit of

00:47 trouble.

00:48 It goes violent as well. Sometimes some people just take out knives.

00:52 There were more than 6,000 reports of offences against the person, an increase of 11%, with

00:59 assaults up 14%, although sexual assaults were down 4%.

01:04 This year's crime statistics come off the back of relatively low numbers that occurred

01:08 during the COVID pandemic. Some say cost of living pressures are also a factor in the

01:13 latest data.

01:15 Police say criminals are often opportunistic, meaning they'll target the easy option, such

01:20 as a business without sufficient security measures or a car left unlocked at night.

01:25 They're reminding people to remain vigilant to help deter criminals.

01:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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