Kimberley tops list for domestic assault rate amid 13pc crime increase

Domestic assaults in the Kimberley have rocketed 17.9 per cent, but the region’s top cop says the figures are actually a positive outcome.

Latest crime figures from WA Police reveal there have been 349 more domestic assault offences over the past 12 months, with the 2014-15 figure catapulting from 1599 to 1948.

The figures show that in 2015-16 you were seven times more likely to be a victim of domestic assault in the Kimberley than the metropolitan average. The Kimberley rate was also four times higher than the overall Regional WA rate and six times higher than the rate in WA as a whole.

But Kimberley District Superintendent Allan Adams said the rise was due to an increase in reporting by victims.

“Significant effort has been undertaken by police and other agencies to increase reporting rates of these offences,” he said.

“Historically, there has been significant under reporting of these offences, so a large increase of this nature indicates people are more comfortable coming to police wanting help.”

Total “offences against the person”, which includes offences such as deprivation of liberty, sexual assault and robbery, spiked by 525 over the same two-year period.

The Kimberley on average recorded 5020.5 domestic assault offences per 100,000 people compared to 550.6 per 100,000 in the South West and 1286.2 offences per 100,000 people in the Pilbara, which was the second highest.

Kimberley homicide rates have halved from 11 deaths in 2014-15 with a 90.9 per cent sanction rate (described by police as verified offences that have had an outcome in the relevant time period divided by the number of offences verified in the same time period) as opposed to five deaths in 2015-16 with a 100 per cent sanction rate.

Statistics also show that over the past three financial years, 54 per cent of homicides in the Kimberley occurred between December and March.

Supt Adams said the reduction in homicide rates also supported the theory that if people come forward to report domestic violence, police and other agencies were best positioned to protect the vulnerable, reducing the opportunity for catastrophic escalation.

Drugs offences were also included in the latest batch of figures with the statistics showing that in 2014-15, there were 744 drug possession violations compared to 945 in 2015-16.

There were 66 illegal drugs-use recordings in 2014-15 with 117 last financial year. Traffic drug offences also tripled from 87 in 2014-15 to 305 in 2015-16.

In relation to the ballooning number of drug offences, Supt Adams said Broome and Derby in particular had experienced high methamphetamine usage rates in recent time and that the scourge of the drug could be blamed for devastating effects within the community.

“Your local police have worked exceptionally hard to take as much of this drug off the street as possible and these results are testament to this effort,” he said.

“For these results to continue the community needs to stand side by side with us and tell us what they are seeing and hearing.”

Overall crime in the region has gone from 6819 total offences against property and people to 7759 in 2015-16 – an increase of 13 per cent.

Focussing on specific towns, in the 12 months to June 30 this year, the statistics reveal 410 assaults, 171 burglaries and 48 stolen motor vehicles were reported in Kununurra.

Likewise, during the same period in Fitzroy Crossing there were 236 assaults, 114 burglaries and 31 stolen motor vehicles while Halls Creek recorded 167 assaults, 142 burglaries and 23 stolen motor vehicles.

Derby recorded 491 assaults, 154 burglaries and 38 stolen vehicles, while Broome had 730 assaults, 343 burglaries and 83 stolen vehicles.

Supt Adams said 15 new police officers were recruited to Broome earlier this year to help combat crime.

For more on this, pick up your copy of next week’sBroome Advertiser orThe Kimberley Echo .