Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037

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Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Attachment 1 - CL370037

       Blacktown City
Crime Prevention Plan
           2017-2021
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017   2
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Table of Contents
Mayoral foreword ................................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Action plan ............................................................................................................................................. 9
   Focused strategy ............................................................................................................................... 10
   Collaborative action ......................................................................................................................... 10
   Integrated response .......................................................................................................................... 11
   Monitoring and evaluation ............................................................................................................... 11
Priority crime categories ....................................................................................................................... 12
   Priority area 1: Domestic violence ................................................................................................. 13
   Priority area 2: Fraud ..................................................................................................................... 17
   Priority area 3: Opportunistic crime .............................................................................................. 19
Demographic and data analysis ........................................................................................................... 25
   Our City ............................................................................................................................................. 26
   Our approach to crime prevention .................................................................................................. 27
   Developing our Crime Prevention Plan ............................................................................................. 28
   Crime profile ..................................................................................................................................... 29
   Crime data analysis ........................................................................................................................... 29
   Twenty five techniques of situational crime prevention .................................................................. 30
   Using crime statistics ....................................................................................................................... 32
Crime data ............................................................................................................................................. 33
References ............................................................................................................................................ 47

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                                                                 3
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017   4
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Mayoral foreword

                                            Community safety is everyone’s business. Our
                                            Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 provides a
                                            strategy to prevent or reduce crime throughout
                                            the City through a range of collaborative,
                                            community-based approaches. These include:
                                            awareness raising, advocacy, policy
                                            development, service development and
                                            community development.
                                            The Plan targets key crime categories identified
                                            by our 3 NSW Police Local Area Commands -
                                            Blacktown, Quakers Hill and Mount Druitt. The
                                            categories centre on assault, robbery, break
                                            and enter, motor vehicle theft, steal and
                                            malicious damage to property.
                                            The Plan includes an analysis of each category,
                                            relevant statistics, comments from the 3 Police
                                            Local Area Commands and an action plan.
                                            We developed the Plan in partnership with the
                                            Police Local Area Commands, and with the
                                            active involvement of local organisations and
                                            Government agencies. We wish to
                                            acknowledge the oversight of the Community
                                            Safety Advisory Committee in its development.
                                            This Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan is
                                            an important part of our City’s commitment to
                                            becoming a safer community.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                   5
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017   6
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Introduction
                                            Community safety is not only about reducing
                                            and preventing injury and crime; it is about
                                            building a strong, cohesive, vibrant and
                                            participatory community that works together to
                                            address factors impacting physical, social and
                                            environmental well-being.
                                            The extent to which people feel safe, whether
                                            as a perception or a reality, will be critical to
                                            the way they feel and interact in their
                                            community.
                                            A safe community is therefore a liveable
                                            community, where people can go about their
                                            daily activities in an environment without fear
                                            or risk of harm. It is a place in which it is
                                            attractive to live, work and visit.
                                            This Crime Prevention Plan sets out how
                                            Blacktown City is creating a respectful, healthy
                                            and safe city – a City of Excellence. It outlines
                                            a framework for a safe community in which all
                                            sectors of the community work together in a
                                            coordinated and collaborative way. This
                                            includes forming partnerships to promote
                                            safety, manage risk, increase overall safety
                                            and reduce the fear of harm.
                                            This Plan is supported by the Community
                                            Safety Advisory Committee; a coalition of
                                            community, business, government and non-
                                            government leaders. They combine their
                                            resources and interests to address local
                                            concerns about injuries, crashes, anti-social
                                            behaviour and crime in a co-ordinated and
                                            sustainable manner.

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Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017   8
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
Blacktown City
                                            Crime Prevention Plan
                                                       2017-2021

                                                  Action plan

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                       9
Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017-2021 - Attachment 1 - CL370037
This action plan describes the crime               and environmental well-being of people within
intervention strategies we, and our                Blacktown City.
collaborative agencies, will be involved in
                                                   The Committee recognises that both the
during the current term of Council. It
                                                   perception and reality of safety - physically,
recognises the need for interventions
                                                   socially and environmentally - is critical to the
addressing both the perception and the reality
                                                   way people engage with their community.
of crime.
                                                   Residents have an expectation of being able to
The actions ensure a broad approach to both        live in their community without fear or risk of
preventing and addressing crime, and are not       harm.
restrictive in scope. We will, with our
                                                   The aim of the Committee is not only about
community partners, undertake activities not
                                                   reducing and preventing injury and crime, it is
listed in this Plan as the need and opportunity
                                                   also about building a strong, cohesive, vibrant,
arise. Some actions contained in this Plan will
                                                   participatory community – a City of Excellence.
have, at best, an attributional impact on crime.
Local government can provide a lead role in        This has entailed coordinating overlapping
ensuring coordinated situational crime             government programs and developing existing
prevention strategies in response to certain       multi-agency strategies as steps toward
crime categories. To be effective these            achieving Pan-Pacific International Safe
strategies need to be:                             Community accreditation.

• focused on an identified crime category          Committee members include residents and
• collaborative and conducted in partnership       key agencies with an interest in issues
  with other agencies                              affecting community safety:
• integrated into a broad community safety         • Blacktown City Council
  strategy                                         • NSW Police Force
• monitored and evaluated.                         • NSW Family and Community Services
                                                   • NSW Health (Diabetes Taskforce)
Focused strategy                                   • NSW Family and Community Services -
                                                       Housing
We have included a limited number of
                                                   • NSW State Emergency Services
intervention strategies. They apply to our local
                                                   • NSW Fire and Rescue
crime rates and are able to be implemented by
                                                   • Blacktown/Mount Druitt Hospitals
local government.
                                                   • Outer West Domestic Violence Network
For each strategy, we identify:                    • GEO Group/Parklea Correctional Centre
• the target crime category                        • Australian Drug Foundation
• what the project will actually do                • Sex Workers Outreach Project
• the project crime reduction objective            • Community Resource Network
• the rationale                                    • Women’s Activities & Self Help House
• performance measures and timeframes              • SydWest Multicultural Services
• the project partners.                            • Rotary Club of Blacktown City
                                                   • Blacktown Family Relationship Centre
Collaborative action                               • St Vincent de Paul Society
Our collaborative approach to community            • Communities 4 Children
safety is a central objective of the Community     • Mission Australia
Safety Advisory Committee which was formed         • local residents
in late 1994. The Committee comprises              • local community health centres.
residents and representatives of government        Our Safer Communities Coordinator serves as
and non-government organisations. The role of      the executive officer of the Committee.
the Committee is to facilitate community
collaboration and to advise Council on a broad
range of factors to improve the physical, social

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                        10
Integrated response                                              Monitoring and evaluation
Our response to crime in our local area is one                   The Community Safety Advisory Committee is
component of our broader approach to                             responsible for ongoing monitoring and
community safety. Our broader approach puts                      evaluation of this Plan.
crime prevention alongside other strategies
                                                                 We will seek the Attorney General’s
promoting:
                                                                 endorsement of our crime prevention strategy
• physical and emotional safety
                                                                 as a safer community compact. We will then
• social and economic inclusion                                  report to the Attorney General within the terms
• environmental and cultural sustainability.                     of the endorsement.
The table below outlines how this Crime
Prevention Plan integrates with our other
strategies and forums to address specific
crime categories.

                                                                                                                          Homelessness
                                                                       Development

                                                                                                           Partnerships
                                             Management

                                                          Management
                                Prevention

                                                                       Economic
Area of Crime

                                                                                                           Domestic
                                                                                                           Violence

                                                                                                                          Working
                                                                                     Strategy

                                                                                                Strategy
                                                                                                Material
                                             Graffiti

                                                          Traffic

                                                                                                                          Group
                                                                                     Youth
                                Crime

                                Plan

                                             Plan

                                                          Plan

                                                                       Plan

                                                                                                Aid
Domestic Violence

   Assault
   – domestic violence
Fraud

   Fraud

Opportunistic crime

   Robbery

   Assault
   – non-domestic violence
   Steal
   – from dwelling
   Steal
   – from motor vehicle
   Steal
   – from person
   Steal
   – from retail store
   Break and enter
   – dwelling
   Break and enter
   – non-dwelling
   Motor vehicle theft

   Malicious damage to
   property

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                                        11
Priority crime categories
The priority crime categories in this Plan were              •   the category of offence was identified by
identified through statistical analysis of crime                 Police Local Area Commands as of
data, consultations with our 3 Police Local                      current operational interest
Area Commands, and discussions with a                        •   recorded incidents demonstrated an
range of stakeholders.                                           increasing or stable trend over a 5-year
Priority crime categories meet the following                     period
criteria:                                                    •   the category ranked within the top 2
                                                                 quartiles of Local Government Areas in
                                                                 NSW in the past 5 years.

Crime group                                                      Offence                          5 year
                                                                                                  trend

Priority area 1    Domestic violence related offences            Assault – domestic violence      Up
Domestic           account for up to 40% of Police call-
violence           outs across the City. Not all call-outs
                   result in a recorded offence. Where           Breach Apprehended Violence      Up
                   offences are recorded, they may fall          Order
                   into a number of categories and
                                                                 Break and enter – dwelling       Down
                   include where identifiable: alcohol
                   related domestic violence assault,            Harassment, threatening          Stable
                   and malicious damage as a result of           behaviour and private nuisance
                   domestic violence.
                                                                 Malicious damage to property     Down
Priority area 2    Identity theft through mail box theft,        Fraud                            Stable
Fraud              fraud, cyber-fraud and skimming is
                   becoming more prevalent, especially
                   in new release areas.
                   Reporting of these offences through
                   financial and other institutions can
                   result in under-reported local
                   incidents.
                   This Plan prioritises emerging trends
                   in fraud, cyber fraud and mailbox
                   theft.
Priority area 3    Consultations identified a concern on         Robbery                          Down
Opportunistic      a range of crimes committed by youth
                   offenders. These crimes, often                Steal – from dwelling            Stable
crime
                   involving theft or malicious damage,          Steal – from motor vehicle       Stable
                   are opportunistic in nature. These
                   offences are particularly appropriate         Steal – from person              Down
                   for a response utilising situational
                                                                 Steal – from retail store        Down
                   crime prevention.
                   This Plan prioritises opportunistic           Break and enter – non-dwelling   Down
                   crime, especially crime and anti-social       Motor vehicle theft              Stable
                   behavior associated with youth.
                                                                 Malicious damage to property     Down

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                  12
Priority area 1: Domestic violence

Family and domestic violence is often referred       tended to focus on and stigmatise offenders
to as a scourge on society. This use of medical      rather than the issue. Similarly, targeted
terminology to describe events, more often           campaigns against litterers (‘Don’t be a
discussed from a legal and policing viewpoint,       tosser’) and ‘hoon’ drivers (little finger) have
highlights the extraordinary complexity of this      also reported little measurable effect.
issue for any community.
                                                     In comparison, the highly successful, culture
Family and domestic violence is a complex            changing campaigns tackling smoking and
issue in Blacktown City. We have the highest         seat belt usehighlighted the benefits and
number of incidents of domestic violence             addressed the issue rather than stigmatising
related assault of any local government area in      the offender.
NSW – 2,083 in the year to March 2017.
Our Mayor and General Manager have been
                                                     Our approach
very public in their leadership of campaigns to      We have been proactive in addressing family
address this crime category.The current rate of      and domestic violence on a number of fronts,
this offence, by any measure, is unacceptable.       including:
                                                     •   actively promoting, forming and joining
Compounding the situation, as Kishor and
                                                         local coalitions of agencies to address
other health professionals note, is that family
                                                         various aspects of family and domestic
and domestic violence is ‘not a scourge like
                                                         violence
most other scourges; its harmful effects do not
                                                     •   funding domestic violence services and
disappear with the generation that was directly
                                                         programs
involved. The scourge will be resurrected in
                                                     •   holding vigils for victims of fatal domestic
every successive generation, unless we treat it
                                                         violence assaults
as a public health emergency and make
                                                     •   supporting early intervention programs in
concerted efforts to eliminate it.’ (Kishor, 2005,
p 78).                                                   local schools
                                                     •   branding a garbage truck and our vehicle
We are therefore dealing with a complex,                 fleet with white ribbon messaging
generational social issue requiring a broad,         •   achieving White Ribbon Australia
multi-faceted response comprised of, but not             Workplace Accreditation
limited to:                                          •   organising an anti-domestic violence
• policing interventions to address crime                contingent in our annual Blacktown
• legislative interventions to strengthen                Festival
     judicial processes                              •   lobbying for increased and continuing
• health interventions to address immediate              funding for local services
     and ongoing physical and mental harm            •   installation of anti-domestic violence street
• human services initiatives to create                   banners on major thoroughfares.
     frontline support services
• community initiatives to create cultural           Our aim
     change.
                                                     Our aim, with family and domestic violence, is
                                                     to continue to work toward:
Awareness raising                                    • effective change within the culture of our
Local and statewide awareness raising                    community to no longer tolerate or accept
campaigns, have resulted in an increased                 family violence in any form
reporting of incidents of family and domestic        • campaigning and messaging that
violence. There is, however, no evidence that            promotes openness and reporting without
public messaging and anti-violence campaigns             stigmatising those who may need
have impacted the community to achieve a                 assistance.
broader cultural shift. Media campaigns have

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                               13
Crime cluster

 Offences within this   •   Assault – domestic violence
 crime cluster          •   Breach Apprehended Violence Order
                        •   Break and enter – dwelling
                        •   Harassment, threatening behaviour and private nuisance
                        •   Malicious damage to property.

 Rationale              Data reported by program partners includes:
                        •   up to 40% of Police response across the City involve domestic violence
                        •   17.1% of malicious damage to property is domestic violence related
                        •   approximately 26% of domestic violence assault is alcohol related
                        •   52% of domestic violence related assaults were committed by the victim’s
                            spouse/partner (including their ex-partner/spouse)
                        •   domestic violence incidents may result in charges for multiple offences.

                        Significant initiatives have been taken at the levels of:
                        •   legislation and law enforcement
                        •   community services programs
                        •   collaborative community action.

                        Blacktown City actively collaborates with:
                        •   Outer West Domestic Violence Network
                        •   Blacktown is United Against Domestic Violence
                        •   Blacktown Domestic Violence Interagency
                        •   The Mount Druitt WASH House
                        •   Blacktown Women’s and Girls’ Health Centre.

                        Blacktown City monitors domestic violence activity and offences through its:
                        •   Community Safety Advisory Committee
                        •   Women’s Advisory Committee
                        •   Aboriginal Advisory Committee
                        •   Multicultural Advisory Committee
                        •   Youth Advisory Committee.

 Objectives             •   Support strategies changing the culture of our community to no longer
                            tolerate or accept family violence in any form.
                        •   Support campaigns and messaging promoting openness and reporting
                            without stigmatising those who may need assistance.
                        •   Support local agencies to provide effective service to the range of people
                            affected by family and domestic violence within Blacktown City.
                        •   Support faith bodies to respond appropriately to disclosure of family
                            violence within their communities.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                           14
Target crime                        Project description                  Project objective                     Outcome, measures and                  Collaboration
                                                                                                                timeframe

Assault – domestic violence         Distribute coasters and posters in   To reduce the incidence of            • Increased awareness of the        • Blacktown City Council
related (incorporating alcohol      local licensed establishments        domestic violence related               link between alcohol and          • Outer West Domestic
related domestic violence assault   during the 16 Days of Activism       assault, alcohol related domestic       domestic violence.
and malicious damage to             Against Domestic Violence to         violence and malicious damage                                               Violence Network
                                                                                                                 Measure: survey.
property).                          educate on the link between          to property as a result of                                                • Domestic Violence Service
                                    alcohol and domestic violence.       domestic violence.                      Timeframe: before and after
                                                                                                                 campaign.                           Management - Refuge,
                                                                                                                                                     Outreach, Action, Response
                                                                                                               • Men joining domestic violence       (ROAR)
                                                                                                                 behaviour change programs.        •    DVSM ROAR
                                                                                                                 Measure: participation rates.
                                                                                                                 Timeframe: before and after       • NSW Family and Community
                                                                                                                 campaign.                           Services Family Violence
                                                                                                                                                     Team
                                                                                                               • Educate licensed liquor outlets
                                                                                                                                                   • Relationships Australia NSW
                                                                                                                 on the effects and number of
                                                                                                                 incidents of alcohol related      • Local licensed establishments
                                                                                                                 domestic violence assaults.       • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                                 Measure: survey.                    Committee.
                                                                                                                 Timeframe: before and after
                                                                                                                 campaign.

Assault – domestic violence         Conduct and support a range of       To reduce the incidence of            • Increased awareness of the        • Blacktown City Council
                                    awareness raising activities         domestic violence related assault       incidence of family and           • Outer West Domestic
                                    during the 16 Days of Activism       as a result of increased reporting.     domestic violence.
                                    Against Domestic Violence,                                                                                       Violence Network
                                                                                                                 Measure: Survey.
                                    including:
                                                                                                                 Timeframe: before and after       • Blacktown Women’s & Girls
                                    • Sea of hands                                                                                                   Health Centre
                                                                                                                 campaign.
                                    • Street banners
                                                                                                                                                   • NSW Police Local Area
                                    • Family fun day                                                           • Increased reporting of              Commands
                                    • Workplace breakfasts                                                       incidents of family and
                                                                                                                                                   • Blacktown Workers Club
                                    • White Ribbon breakfast.                                                    domestic violence.
                                                                                                                 Measure: Domestic violence        • faith communities
                                                                                                                 legal action rates.               • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                                 Timeframe: Quarterly.               Committee.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                        15
Target crime                  Project description                  Project objective                   Outcome, measures and             Collaboration
                                                                                                        timeframe

Assault – domestic violence   Use of Blacktown City assets         To increase reporting of domestic   • Increased reporting of family   • Blacktown City Council
                              and resources to promote             violence related assault.             and domestic violence.          • Outer West Domestic
                              awareness of family and                                                    Measure: NSW Bureau of
                              domestic violence, and services                                                                              Violence Network
                                                                                                         Crime Statistics and Research
                              available to victims and                                                                                   • Police Local Area Commands
                              perpetrators. Resources include:                                           Crime statistics.
                                                                                                         Timeframe: quarterly.           • Community Safety Advisory
                              • branding of our vehicles and a                                                                             Committee.
                                garbage truck                                                          • Statistics on enquiries
                              • disseminating information and                                            regarding domestic violence
                                resources via our website                                                services.
                              • promoting and hosting vigils                                             Measure: Blacktown City
                                for fatal victims of domestic                                            statistics
                                violence                                                                 Timeframe: Quarterly.
                              • installation of street banners
                                during the 16 Days of Activism
                              • printing and production of anti-
                                domestic violence resources
                                for use and distribution
                                through local agencies
                              • funding of the local peak
                                domestic violence
                                interagency.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                16
Priority area 2: Fraud

 Crime cluster

                         •   Fraud
Offences within this
                         •   Fail to pay
crime cluster

Rationale                Prioritisation of emerging trends in fraud, cyber fraud and mailbox theft.
                         Police Local Area Commands have expressed concern at a growing,
                         but, yet to be statistically quantified, incidence of cyber-crime.
                         Blacktown City sits well within the upper quartile of Local Government
                         Area rankings with a rate of incidents per 100,000 of population in 2016
                         well above the State average.
                         No hotspot data is available for this offence. Police Local Area
                         Commands report a large proportion of incidents of fraud involve
                         identity theft.

 Objective
                         •   Increase security for both individuals and properties.
                         •   Increase hotspot security using active surveillance systems.
                         •   Increase area security through the application of Crime Prevention
                             through Environmental Design principles.
                         •   Increase social reporting through community membership of social
                             media connections such as NSW Police Eye Watch programs.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                             17
Target crime                  Project description                Project objective                  Outcome measures and                Collaboration
                                                                                                     timeframe

Fraud                         Cyber-crime awareness sessions     To reduce the incidence of cyber   • Increased awareness of            • Blacktown City Council
                              for the elderly.                   fraud within vulnerable              actions to reduce vulnerability   • NSW Department of Fair
                                                                 communities.                         to cyber-crime among the            Trading
                                                                                                      target group.
                                                                                                                                        • Police Local Area Commands
                                                                                                      Measure: Survey.
                                                                                                      Timeframe: before and after       • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                      campaign.                           Committee.

                                                                                                    • Decreased occurrences of
                                                                                                      cyber fraud among the target
                                                                                                      group.
                                                                                                      Measure: NSW Bureau of
                                                                                                      Crime Statistics and Research
                                                                                                      crime statistics.
                                                                                                      Timeframe: Quarterly.

Fraud                         Mailbox security information for   To reduce the incidence of theft   • Increased awareness of            • Blacktown City Council
                              developers and residents.          from mail box.                       actions to reduce vulnerability   • Police Local Area Commands
                                                                                                      to mail box theft among the
                                                                                                                                        • local service clubs
                                                                                                      target group.
                                                                                                      Measure: Survey.                  • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                      Timeframe: before and after         Committee.
                                                                                                      campaign.

                                                                                                    • Take up of mail box design
                                                                                                      recommendations by
                                                                                                      developers.
                                                                                                      Measure: Blacktown City
                                                                                                      statistics
                                                                                                      Timeframe: Quarterly.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                              18
Priority area 3: Opportunistic crime

Research by the Australian Institute of            Interventions supported by evidence of
Criminology suggests that opportunistic            effectiveness and suitability for implementation
offences are significantly underreported (120,     by local government are:
p 78).                                             • access control measures
A high proportion of opportunistic offenders       • surveillance (CCTV, lighting, signage)
are typically young males, with the average        • the application of Crime Prevention
age of onset being 12–14 years.                        through Environmental Design principles.

Effective strategies identify young people who     Steal from person
are at risk of engaging in opportunistic crime
and provide them with programs that address        Stealing from person encompasses a range of
multiple risk factors such as poor social skills   activities, such as bag snatching and
and association with offending peer groups.        pickpocketing, and may be perpetrated using
Potential strategies include youth groups and      different techniques.
mentoring programs (National Audit Office          The costs of theft from person offences are
2007).                                             considerable. Besides the obvious impact of
Importantly, local government can provide a        the offence on the victim who has to replace
lead role in ensuring coordinated situational      their property (usually at their own expense),
crime prevention strategies in response to         some research suggests that thieves use
opportunistic crime.                               stolen personal items (e.g. credit cards, driver
                                                   licences) to perpetrate identity theft (Johnson
Theft involving motor vehicles                     et al. 2010). As such, theft from person
                                                   offences may facilitate more serious crime.
Stealing from motor vehicles encompasses:
• theft of items left in cars, for example         Licensed establishments and busy locations
    GPS, iPods, laptops, money and                 attract higher rates of theft from person
    sunglasses; interior car parts such as         offences due to the ability of offenders to blend
    radios or batteries                            into a crowd, and the availability of products
                                                   that are especially attractive to thieves are
• external car parts such as wheels,
                                                   CRAVED—concealable, removable, available,
    registration plates and hubcaps (ABS
                                                   valuable, enjoyable and disposable (Clarke
    2011; Varshney & Fitzgerald 2008).
                                                   2002a).
The most common location for stealing from
                                                   Interventions supported by evidence of
motor vehicle offences are:
                                                   effectiveness and suitability for implementation
• residential locations, primarily of an
                                                   by local government are:
   evening where vehicles are not parked in
                                                   • awareness campaigns
   garages
                                                   • CCTV.
• parking facilities, primarily in car parks
   where vehicles are likely to be left for set    The suitability of CCTV as a strategy for local
   periods. For example, commuter or               government will depend on the location being
   university car parks, are more likely to be     targeted.
   targeted than short-term parking facilities.
   (NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and
   Research 2012; Varshney & Fitzgerald
   2008; Armitage 2011b)

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                        19
Residential burglary                                 Malicious damage
Residential burglary is usually ‘unplanned and       Malicious damage is the intentional
speculative in nature’ (Grabosky 1995, p 3). As      ‘destruction or defacement of public,
such, successful prevention strategies are           commercial and private property’, including
often targeted at reducing opportunity risk          vandalism and graffiti.
factors.
                                                     Apart from considerable monetary costs,
There are a number of situational risk factors       graffiti and vandalism can undermine a
that contribute to residential burglary including:   community’s feeling of safety, reducing the
• regular periods during the day when                quality of life of residents (Department for
     buildings are unoccupied                        Transport 2003; Morgan & Louis 2009).
• the presence of concealment for offenders          Other evidence suggests that malicious
     (e.g. overgrown shrubbery and trees)            damage offences may encourage further
• unsecured entry points to dwelling                 criminal acts through the process sometimes
• the absence of a garage or properties with         referred to as the ‘broken windows’ effect
     an open carport                                 (LaGrange 1999).
• proximity to pawnshops
• proximity to public transport (Armitage            The understanding of the nature and extent of
                                                     malicious damage offences is limited because
     2011b; Moreto 2010).
                                                     the overwhelming majority of incidents are not
There is a range of practical strategies that        witnessed. However, research has identified a
may be implemented by the home or property           number of common characteristics:
owner to reduce the risk of residential burglary,    • the majority of malicious damage incidents
such as:                                                 occur between 3 pm and midnight with a
• increasing the natural surveillance                    peak between 6 pm and 9 pm
   opportunities of the property                     • most offences occur between Friday and
• securing implements that may be used to                Sunday
   aid an offender’s entry into the property         • alcohol is an important contributing factor
• making the property appear occupied,                   to many malicious damage offences
   particularly when the homeowner is away           • young people are generally the main
• restricting access by making sure access               perpetrators of graffiti as well as other
   points such as window and doors are                   forms of malicious damage.
   locked and secure
                                                     Situational crime prevention strategies aim to
• installing additional measures such as
                                                     change the environment in which crime
   sensor lights and alarm systems
                                                     occurs. Strategies to reduce opportunities for
• burglary victims upgrading their security
                                                     offending have included:
   immediately after the event to deter repeat
                                                     • elements of Crime Prevention through
   victimisation (Grabosky 1995).
                                                         Environmental Design
The NSW Department of Justice (2014)                 • community patrols
identifies interventions supported by evidence       • rapid removal of graffiti.
of effectiveness and suitability for
implementation by local government involve:
• access control measures
• awareness raising campaigns
• property marking
• strategies involving some form of Crime
    Prevention through Environmental Design
• community patrols
• diversionary activities providing some form
    of alternative activity after school or during
    school holidays for youths at risk of
    becoming involved in property crime.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                           20
Crime cluster

 Offences within this    •   Assault – non-domestic Violence related
 crime cluster           •   Robbery
                         •   Steal – from dwelling
                         •   Steal – from motor vehicle
                         •   Steal – from person
                         •   Steal – from retail store
                         •   Break and enter – non-dwelling
                         •   Motor vehicle theft
                         •   Malicious damage to property.

 Rationale
                         A number of offences fall into the broader category of opportunistic
                         crime. Often committed by youth offenders, offences in this category
                         are particularly appropriate for a situational response.

                         Key data relating to these offences is contained in the crime data
                         analysis section above.

                         Successful models of intervention have tended to engage and support
                         young people to develop crime prevention strategies and tools for their
                         own demographic.

 Objectives
                         •   Engage young people and youth services in the creation and
                             implementation of programs designed to address and reduce the
                             incidence of crime in the offences associated with this priority area.
                         •   Support the community to engage in behaviours that foster the
                             safety and security of themselves and their possessions.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                             21
Target crime                   Project description                   Project objective               Outcome measures and                Collaboration
                                                                                                         timeframe

Assault – non-domestic violence   Provide workshops to high school   To reduce the incidence of         • Decreased reporting of            • Blacktown City Council
related                           students on avoiding becoming a    Assault – non-domestic violence      incidents of Assault – non-
                                  victim of street violence.         related offences.                                                      • Police Local Area Commands
                                                                                                          domestic violence related.
                                  Monitor crime statistics as an     .                                    Measure: NSW Bureau of            • Community Safety Advisory
                                  evidence base for a                                                     Crime Statistics and Research       Committee
                                  recommendation regarding                                                statistics.                       • Blacktown City Youth Advisory
                                  installation of mobile CCTV.                                            Timeframe: Quarterly.               Committee
                                                                                                                                            • Local youth agencies
                                                                                                                                            • COM4unity
                                                                                                                                            • Schools.

•    Assault – non-domestic       Youth-led workshops and            To reduce incidence of youth       • To reduce the incidence of        • Blacktown City Council
     Violence related             information sessions to raise      involvement in opportunistic         youth involvement in
                                  awareness of impact of             crime.                                                                 • Police Local Area Commands
•    Steal – from motor vehicle                                                                           opportunistic crime.
                                  involvement in opportunistic                                                                              • Blacktown City Youth Advisory
•    Steal – from person                                                                                  Measure: NSW Bureau of
                                  crime.                                                                                                      Committee
                                                                                                          Crime Statistics and Research
•    Steal – from retail store
                                  Provide young people with                                               statistics.                       • COM4unity, COLLAB
•    Break and enter – non-       strategies to recognise and                                             Timeframe: Quarterly.
     dwelling                     respond to early signs of                                                                                 • Community Safety Advisory
•    Malicious damage to          involvement in opportunistic                                                                                Committee.
     property                     crime.

Steal – from motor vehicle        Provide community education        To reduce the incidence of steal   • Decreased incidence of Steal      • Blacktown City Council
                                  through our newsletter, local      from motor vehicle offences.         - from motor vehicle.
                                  paper and social media to raise                                                                           • Police Local Area Commands
                                                                                                          Measure: NSW Bureau of
                                  awareness about the risk of                                                                               • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                          Crime Statistics and Research
                                  leaving valuables in vehicles,
                                                                                                          statistics.                         Committee
                                  especially in commuter carparks,
                                  shopping centre carparks and                                            Timeframe: Quarterly.             • Blacktown City Youth Advisory
                                  residential premises.                                                                                       Committee
                                                                                                        • Increase participation in local
                                  Monitor crime statistics as an                                          Eye Watch programs.               • Resident associations
                                  evidence base for a                                                     Measure: Police Eye Watch         • NSW Roads & Maritime
                                  recommendation regarding                                                statistics.                         Services
                                  installation of CCTV.                                                   Timeframe: Quarterly.
                                                                                                                                            • Major Shopping centres.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                  22
Target crime                  Project description                     Project objective                 Outcome measures and                Collaboration
                                                                                                            timeframe

Steal – from motor vehicle       Develop a multi-level strategy to    To reduce incidence of steal from    • To reduce the incidence of        • Blacktown City Council
                                 reducing theft from motor vehicles   motor vehicle offences.                youth involvement in steal from
                                                                                                                                               • Police Local Area Commands
                                 involving promotion of local Eye                                            motor vehicle offences.
                                 Watch programs, conduct of                                                  Measure: NSW Bureau of            • Blacktown City Youth Advisory
                                 Crime Prevention Through                                                    Crime Statistics and Research       Committee
                                 Environmental Design audits,                                                statistics.                       • COM4unity, COLLAB
                                 and installation of strategic                                               Timeframe: Quarterly.             • Community Safety Advisory
                                 signage.
                                                                                                                                                 Committee.
Steal – from person              Educate the community to be          To reduce the incidence of steal     • Decreased incidence of            • Blacktown City Council
                                 aware of their surroundings when     from person offences.                  robbery and steal from person
                                 walking around, for example,                                                                                  • Police Local Area Commands
                                                                                                             offences in monitored areas.
                                 talking on headphones and not                                                                                 • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                             Measure: NSW Bureau of
                                 walking and texting.                                                                                            Committee
                                                                                                             Crime Statistics and Research
                                 Monitor crime statistics as an                                              statistics.                       • Blacktown City Youth Advisory
                                 evidence base for a                                                         Timeframe: Quarterly.               Committee
                                 recommendation regarding
                                 installation of CCTV.                                                     • Increased apprehension rates      • Major Shopping centres.
                                                                                                             of steal from person offenders.
                                                                                                             Measure: Legal action rates.
                                                                                                             Timeframe: Quarterly.

•    Robbery and ‘Steal – from   Deliver schools-based activities     To reduce the incidence of           • To reduce the incidence of        • Blacktown City Council
     …’ offences                 on the consequences of being         opportunistic crime, specifically:     opportunistic crime.
                                 charged with robbery and ‘Steal –                                                                             • Police Local Area Commands
•    Malicious damage                                                 •      Robbery                         Measure: NSW Bureau of
                                 from …’ offences.                                                                                             • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                      •      Steal – from motor vehicle      Crime Statistics and Research
                                 Work with local schools to create                                           statistics.                         Committee
                                 local versions of ‘You think you     •      Steal – from person
                                                                                                             Timeframe: Quarterly.             • NSW Department of Juvenile
                                 know’ material.                      •      Steal – from retail store.
                                                                                                                                                 Justice.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                    23
Target crime                  Project description                  Project objective            Outcome measures and           Collaboration
                                                                                                 timeframe

Malicious damage              Deliver separate schools based       To reduce the incidence of   • To reduce the incidence of   • Blacktown City Council
                              education activities on the          malicious damage offences      opportunistic crime.
                              consequences of malicious                                                                        • Community Safety Advisory
                                                                                                  Measure: Blacktown City
                              damage to property.                                                                                Committee
                                                                                                  reporting system.
                              Monitor crime statistics as an                                      Timeframe: Quarterly.        • Local schools
                              evidence base for a                                                                              • Police Local Area Commands
                              recommendation for installation of
                              mobile CCTV.                                                                                     • NSW Department of Juvenile
                                                                                                                                 Justice.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                         24
Blacktown City
                                            Crime Prevention Plan
                                                       2017-2021

                                            Demographic and
                                               data analysis

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                      25
Our City
Our long and rich history                          A diverse city
We acknowledge the Darug people as the first       •   Around 1 in 70 Australians reside in
people of the Blacktown region. The Darug              Blacktown City.
people have lived in this region for thousands     •   2.8% of people are from an Aboriginal or
of years. This was a living country intertwined        Torres Strait Islander background. They
and connected with the many clan groups of             comprise the largest urban Aboriginal and
the Darug. The traditional name for the place          Torres Strait Islander population in N SW.
is Boongarrunbee or Bungarribee.                   •   We have people from 188 different
Europeans came to Blacktown in 1791 and                birthplaces. The top 5 countries of origin
settled in Prospect Hill. After the Second World       are The Philippines, India, New Zealand,
War, the City’s population of 18,000 began to          Fiji and England.
grow. Housing was developed in Blacktown           •   There are 182 languages spoken. Top 5
and along the railway line. In the 1960s and           languages spoken include Tagalog, Hindi,
1970s there was large-scale housing                    Punjabi, Arabic and Filipino.
development in the suburb of Blacktown and to      •   The median age is 33 years.
the north of Mount Druitt.                         •   22.8% are children aged between 0-14.
                                                   •   20.2% are older people aged over 55.
Regional context                                   •   55.5% are families with children.
                                                   •   3,553 people are over the age of 85.
Blacktown City is an emerging Regional City
located about 35 kilometres west of the
Sydney Central Business District. Our City is
                                                   Economy, employment and
at the heart of western Sydney and is well         infrastructure
serviced by employment lands, public               Our local economy sustains some 116,000
transport and road access. It is supported by      jobs of which 44% are occupied by residents.
core health, education, recreation, cultural and
                                                   Our City is home to around 18,000
leisure infrastructure.
                                                   businesses, 91% of these are small
We are home to 15.7% of greater western            businesses.
Sydney’s population.
                                                   Blacktown City is larger in economic output
                                                   than 60 nations in the world. Our local
A growing city
                                                   economy produces upwards of $14.2 billion a
Blacktown is the second largest Local              year in gross regional product. In the last 5
Government Area in NSW with an estimated           years, our economic output has grown on
350,000 residents and a projected population       average by 3% a year. This exceeds the
of 522,000 by 2036. Current growth will            growth of the economies of all other Western
continue, especially in the North West Growth      Sydney councils.
Centre.
                                                   Our export trade is estimated at $8.5 billion
Blacktown City extends about 247 square            and has grown by some $757 million over the
kilometres It includes 48 existing and 9 new       last 5 years. Blacktown City plays a vital role in
(soon to be named) suburbs.                        creating jobs and increasing prosperity by
We welcome people of all backgrounds into          attracting investors and tourism to the area.
our vibrant and expanding neighbourhoods.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                         26
In 2016, 55% of people aged over 15 years          Our approach to crime
had completed Year 12 schooling (or
equivalent). There were, however, 33,916
                                                   prevention
people in low income households living in          Our approach to crime prevention strategy has
Blacktown City. Low income households are          been developed in partnership and through
defined as households falling into the bottom      consultation with a broad range of
25% of incomes across Australia. We work           stakeholders, including:
with developers to cater for the growing           • our 3 NSW Police Local Area Commands
demand for affordable housing.                     • Community Safety Precinct Committees
                                                   • Our Community Safety Advisory
Planning for future growth                             Committee.
The Greater Sydney Commission was                  We have relied on research produced by the
established in January 2016 to prepare district    Australian Institute of Criminology, in particular
plans. We are working with the Commission,         Research and Public Policy Series Report 120
through the district planning process, to ensure   ‘Effective crime prevention interventions for
the district plans will connect local planning     implementation by local government’. We have
with longer-term regional planning for Greater     also referenced the NSW Department of
Sydney.                                            Attorney General and Justice’s Crime
                                                   Prevention Division guidelines for developing a
Our environment                                    Crime Prevention Strategy as a Safer
We are committed to the conservation,              Community Compact. This framework is
restoration and enhancement of our                 evidence based and uses best practice
environment.                                       recommended by the NSW Department of
                                                   Attorney General and Justice Crime
In keeping with ecologically sustainable           Prevention Division.
development principles, we work to balance
social, economic and environmental values          Research by the Australian Institute of
and imperatives.                                   Criminology has established crime occurs
                                                   where the opportunity to commit it is high and
We actively work with the local community to       the risk of being caught is low. Our Crime
address key environmental challenges               Prevention Plan therefore develops a
including climate change, waste education and      situational crime prevention strategy based on
protecting our natural bushland areas, local       a researched understanding of crime trends.
biodiversity and the health of our waterways.      The Plan proposes a range of situational crime
                                                   prevention initiatives involving awareness
                                                   raising, advocacy, policy development, service
                                                   development and community action.
                                                   Our Crime Prevention Plan is one component
                                                   of a broader Safe City Strategy addressing the
                                                   physical, social and environment well-being of
                                                   residents, workers and visitors within
                                                   Blacktown City.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                         27
Developing our Crime                                 In 2015, we surveyed residents on their
                                                     perception of being safe walking down their
Prevention Plan                                      street. This was the first time this question was
Our Community Safety Advisory Committee              included in a survey of residents and it
has overseen the development of this Plan            provides a baseline for comparison for future
and will be responsible for its ongoing              surveys. Nearly half of those surveyed said
monitoring and evaluation..                          they always felt safe walking down their street.
Broad consultation has occurred through:             It is possible to compare our findings with
• focus groups with our 3 NSW Police Local           results from a similar question in the ABS 2010
   Area Commands                                     General Social Survey, which specified after
                                                     dark. This survey estimated the number of
• interviews with our staff
                                                     Blacktown City adults (per 100) who felt very
• interrogation of our hotlines and reporting
                                                     safe or safe while walking alone in their local
   systems
                                                     area after dark was lower (46.2) than for
• input from representatives through the our
                                                     Sydney Statistical Division (47.8), NSW (49.0)
   Community Safety Advisory Committee
                                                     and Australia as a whole (47.0) (Social Profile
• community surveys informing the
                                                     2016, p 53).
   production of the Blacktown City Social
   Profile 2016                                      Our survey reported an equal divide between
• community feedback gathered during our             those who saw the City as a safe place to live
   Mayor’s monthly open community forums.            and those who had concerns about perceived
                                                     high crime levels, personal and community
These consultations confirmed a proportion of
                                                     safety (Social Profile, 2016, p 61). Concern
offences go unreported and unrecorded. Crime
                                                     was expressed about antisocial behaviour in
data therefore does not reflect the full extent of
                                                     neighbourhoods, shopping centres, parks and
crime, as it only reflects offences reported to or
                                                     transport interchanges. Some causes were
detected by Police.
                                                     drinking alcohol, drug-taking, abusive
Community engagement revealed primary                language and swearing. Concern was also
concerns of our residents related to safety          expressed about personal safety at transport
including:                                           interchanges, railway stations and walking
• domestic and family violence                       after dark. Vandalism and graffiti made some
• reported increase in drug and alcohol use          areas look run-down and led to people feeling
• anti-social behaviour                              unsafe (Social Profile 2016, p 58-61).
• graffiti (Social Profile 2016, 16).                The data analysis contained in the following
Residents reported feeling less safe in their        Crime Profile demonstrates how perception of
community due to:                                    crime does not reflect actual crime rates in the
• adequate lighting                                  City. The reality is that crime trends in most
• rubbish in streets                                 crime categories have reduced or stabilised
                                                     over the decade.
• poorly maintained areas (Social Profile
   2016, p 16).
Perceptions of safety may be shaped by a
person’s personal experience of crime and by
the number and type of problems reported in
their neighbourhood. Importantly, these
perceptions can also be shaped by individual
characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity,
education, health and economic status.
The built environment, and the design and
maintenance of neighbourhoods also impact
on perceptions of safety. They are key factors
in improving feelings of safety within
communities (Social Profile 2016, p 53).

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                          28
Crime profile                                    Situational crime prevention
This crime profile has been developed using      Councils are most effective at implementing
data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics     situational crime prevention activities (NSW
and Research (BOCSAR). This data formed          Department of Justice, 2014, p 3).
the basis of consultation with the range of      Research by the Australian Institute of
stakeholders listed above.                       Criminology (2012) supports conclusions
For each major crime category, our Crime         reported by the NSW Department of Justice
Data Analysis sources:                           (2014, p 3-4) that:
• number of recorded incidents of crime          • efficiently and effectively designed,
    over the 5 years to March 2017                   managed and implemented programs are
• a 5-year crime trend graph                         more likely to be successful than those
• 5-year data on our Local Government                that are not
    Area ranking                                 • programs that have an employed a
• rate of occurrence of the crime per                program officer to oversee the program
    100,000 of population in 2016. A                 are more likely to be successful than those
    comparison is provided between                   that do not
    Blacktown and the NSW average.               • programs that aimed to reduce theft
                                                     crimes such as break enter and steal,
                                                     steal from dwelling and steal from a retail
Crime data analysis
                                                     store were most consistently successful
                                                 • there was no evidence of community arts
Statistical crime data analysis
                                                     programs having successfully achieved a
The following Statistical crime data analysis        reduction in crime. (This particular finding
uses data sourced from the NSW Bureau of             is not supported by the experience of
Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) and           Blacktown City, where community art
corroborated in discussion with the 3 NSW            programs involving electricity boxes
Police Local Area Commands located within            eliminated graffiti at these locations).
Blacktown City.                                  • programs targeted at families and parents
Statistical data and crime trends are analysed       have generally been unsuccessful.
for each offence identified by Local Area        • no significant relationships were found
Commands as being of operational                     between awareness raising strategies and
significance.                                        changes in levels of crime reporting. (AIC,
                                                     2012; NSW Department of Justice, 2014)
Crime statistics and trends have been sourced
and analysed for the most recent 5-year period   The Action Plan contained in this document
available, to March 2017.                        combines these conclusions with the
                                                 application of the situational crime prevention
The table on the following pages shows:          tool outlined in the following table.
• the number of offences over the subject
   period
• 5-year crime trend
• our Local Government Area ranking over
   the subject period
• rate per 100,000 of population in 2016.
In line with broader NSW trends, most of the
subject offences have been stable or trending
down over the 5-year period, with the
exception of ‘Assault – domestic violence’.

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                       29
Twenty five techniques of situational crime prevention
   Increase the           Increase the           Reduce the             Reduce                      Remove
   Effort                 Risks                  Rewards                Provocations                Excuses

1. Harden target      6. Extend               11. Conceal            16. Reduce stress        21. Set rules
                         guardianship             targets                & frustrations
• Steering                                                                                    • Rental
  column locks        • Take routine          • Off-street parking   • Efficient queues         agreements
  and                   precautions: go out   • Gender-neutral         and polite service     • Harassment
  immobilisers          in group at night,      phone directories    • Expanded seating         codes
• Anti-robbery          leave signs of        • Unmarked             • Soothing               • Hotel registration
  screens               occupancy,              bullion trucks         music/muted lights     • Alcohol rules
• Tamper-proof        • carry phone
  packaging           • ‘Cocoon’
                        neighborhood watch

2. Control access     7. Assist natural       12. Remove             17. Avoid disputes       22. Post
   to facilities         surveillance             targets                                         instructions
                                                                     • Separate
• Entry phones        • Improved street       • Removable car          enclosures for rival   • ‘No Parking’
• Electronic card       lighting                stereo faceplates      soccer fans            • ‘Private Property’
  access              • Defensible space      • Women’s              • Reduce crowding        • ‘Extinguish camp
• Baggage               design                  refuges                in pubs                  fires’
  screening           • Support               • Pre-paid cards       • Fixed cab fares
                        whistleblowers          for pay phones

3. Screen exits       8. Reduce               13. Identify           18. Reduce               23. Alert
                         anonymity                property               emotional                conscience
• Ticket needed for                                                      arousal
  exit                • Taxi driver IDs       • Property marking                              • Roadside speed
• Export documents    • ‘How’s my driving?’   • Vehicle licensing    • Controls on violent      display boards
• Electronic            stickers                and parts              pornography            • Signatures for
  merchandise tags    • School uniforms         marking              • Enforce good             customs
                                              • Cattle branding        behavior on sports       declarations
                                                                       fields                 • ‘Shoplifting is
                                                                     • Prohibit racial          stealing’
                                                                       slurs

4. Deflect            9. Utilise place        14. Disrupt            19. Neutralise           24. Assist
   offenders             managers                 markets               peer pressure             compliance
• Street closures     • CCTV for double-      • Monitor pawn         • ‘Idiots drink and      • Easy library
• Separate              deck buses              shops                  drive’                   checkout
  bathrooms for       • Two clerks for        • Controls on          • ‘It’s OK to say No’    • Public lavatories
  women                 convenience stores      classified ads.      • Disperse               • Litter bins
• Disperse pubs       • Reward vigilance      • License street         troublemakers at
                                                vendors                school

5. Control tools/     10. Strengthen          15. Deny benefits      20. Discourage           25. Control drugs
   weapons               formal                                          imitation                and alcohol
                         surveillance         • Ink merchandise
• ‘Smart’ guns                                  tags                 • Rapid repair of        • Breathalyzers in
• Disabling stolen    • Red light cameras     • Graffiti cleaning      vandalism                pubs
  cell phones         • Burglar alarms        • Speed humps          • V-chips in TVs         • Server
• Restrict spray      • Security guards                              • Censor details of        intervention
  paint sales to                                                       ‘modus operandi’       • Alcohol-free
  juveniles                                                                                     events

Source: Cornish & Clarke (2003)

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                     30
Effectiveness of place-based interventions

In light of the community’s feedback, place-                      one hand and the reality of crime on the other.
based interventions must take into                                Studies by Lorenc et al and Eck & Guerette on
consideration community perception of their                       the effectiveness of specific situational crime
personal, social and environmental safety.                        solutions are reflected in the following
                                                                  diagram.
The actions identified in the Action Plan (at x
above) factor the varying effectiveness of
interventions in reducing fear of crime on the

            Effectiveness of place-based interventions ...
                 94        93        92       89
  100
            78
                                                       67
                      56        60                           59   6955
    50                                                      50                             … in reducing
                                                                                           fear of crime (%)
        0                                 0        0
                                                                                           … in reducing
                                                                                           actual crime (%)

  Source: Lorenc et al (2013); Eck & Guerette (2012)

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                                                      31
Using crime statistics                             Calculation of crime trends
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and             In general, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics
Research provide cautionary notes on the use       and Research relies upon the Kendall Rank
of its crime statistics. (NSW Bureau of Crime      Order Correlation statistical test (or Kendall's
Statistics and Research, 2017)                     tau-b) to determine whether a series is
Recorded crime statistics for some offence         trending upwards, downwards or is stable
categories do not accurately reflect the actual    (p
Blacktown City
                                            Crime Prevention Plan
                                                       2017-2021

                                                   Crime data

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                  33
Assault – domestic violence related
Blacktown City continues to have the highest number of recorded incidents
of domestic violence related assault of any Local Government Area in
NSW. These incidents have increased with spikes over a 5- year period.
With 2,083 incidents, we are almost twice the next highest council area
(Penrith City with 1,043 incidents).
The Local Government Area ranking is based on the rate of offence per
100,000 of population. Due to our large population, the offence rate is
lower than smaller rural Local Government Areas. In 2016, with a rate of
608.9 per 100,000 people, we had the highest rate of offence of any urban
Local Government Area in NSW and remained significantly above the
state average.
A situational analysis of offence hotspots shows incidents concentrated in
domestic settings and in specific communities.
A situational crime response would involve increasing:
• personal security for both individuals and properties
• area security through neighbour watch programs
• social cohesion through community membership of social media
     connections such as NSW Police Eye Watch programs.

                                                                                         Local                    Rate per 100,000 of
                   Number of incidents                    5 year Crime Trend – up        Government Area          population
                                                                                         Ranking                  2016

Assault –
domestic
                   April 2012   April 2014   April 2016                                                             New
violence                                                                                                                        Blacktown
                        –            –            –                                      2012    2014      2016     South
related                                                                                                                            City
                   Mar 2013     Mar 2015     Mar 2017                                                               Wales

                      1948        1920         2083                                       25     31        29        382.1        608.9

Blacktown City Crime Prevention Plan 2017                                           34
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