The latest quarterly report from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research is displaying some dramatic trends for the Hunter Region, with rates of sexual assault in the Hunter Valley, excluding Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, leaping by 19.7 percent compared to a 9.4 percent increase across the entire state.
While rates of wider violent crime remain mostly steady in Newcastle and the Greater Hunter, property offences have seen a significant decline over the 24 months to last June.
In the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region, the rates of offences such as steal from motor vehicle has fallen by 21.8 percent, steal from dwelling by 16.8 percent, and break and enter dwelling by 14.9 percent.
Excluding Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, rates of steal from person offences in the Hunter Valley have fallen dramatically by 40 percent, now below the state average, and steal from retail store by 26.4 percent.
Over the 12 months to last June, there have been 785 incidents of sexual assault in the wider Hunter Region, 3781 incidents of steal from motor vehicle, 2488 incidents of break and enter dwelling, 2121 incidents of steal from dwelling, and just 215 incidents of steal from person.
2879 incidents of domestic violence related assault were also recorded across the Hunter, 789 of which were in Lake Macquarie alone.
There have been a total of ten murder victims in the Hunter Region over the past year - six in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie and four in the rest of the Hunter Valley.
