Proactive policing is one of the major factors behind reduced crime rates in the Maitland area, according to the Central Hunter local area command crime manager.
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Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data released earlier this month showed crime rates had either dropped or remained stable in Maitland during the past two years.
Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector John Zdrilic said proactive policing was one of the key factors behind the numbers.
“Strategies to reduce crime are multi-tiered and proactive policing is one of those,” he said.
“My strategy here is primarily looking at, rather than targeting crime, targeting criminals.
“Is that one of the most effective tiers? I say yes.”
Proactive policing involves officers attending targeted areas to prevent crime before it happens after responding to and identifying trends in crime.
BOSCAR figures showed there was a 24.2 per cent drop in motor vehicle thefts and an 18.2 per cent decrease in malicious damage to property offences in the Central Hunter during the two years to June 2014.
There was also a 19.4 per cent drop in break-ins to non-dwellings during that time.
There were less than 20 incidents in each of the remaining 17 major crime categories during that period, so no statistics were recorded.
Inspector Zdrilic said putting strategies in place to stop crime before it happened had been successful.
“With policing there are two sides, there is the investigating of crime and minimising of crime,” he said.
“In that respect we want to be proactive, where we send personnel to appropriate places so, not just to detect crime, but to deter it.”
Inspector Zdrilic said his dedicated team was invaluable in fighting crime.
“Everybody bears a responsibility for proactivity from general duties to detectives,” he said.
“But we have a specific proactive team here and they are unashamedly the most effective.”
Inspector Zdrilic said responding to and identifying trends was an important part of proactive policing.
“Old-style policing was just blitzing an area and for most parts that’s not effective,” he said.
“Now we’re targeting criminals, rather than crime. If we see a spike in stolen vehicles, just turning up in that area isn’t as effective as targeting people who might be responsible.”