THE number of homes broken into across Cowra, Hilltops and Parkes local government areas is declining, new data shows.
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During the past year, there were 194 break and enter dwelling crimes reported to police which represents a decline of 6.7 per cent on the 208 cases in the 12 months prior.
The data was revealed in the recently-released NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) report for the 12 months to September 2019.
Far more homes were broken into in Cowra than the other LGAs, with 95 incidents this year compared to 100 the year before.
This was followed by Parkes (53 incidents which was down from 54) and Hilltops (46 down from 54).
Data also shows the number of break and enter non-dwelling crimes that occurred.
Across the three LGAs, there were 92 reported incidents which is a significant 27.6 per cent decline on the 127 cases during the previous year.
Cowra again recorded the most incidents, but only just, with 34 reports to the police for this crime (down from 45 the year prior).
Parkes followed with 32 cases (down from 52) and Hilltops with 26 (down from 30).
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NSW Police Cowra Sergeant Rod Buhr said break and enters were cyclical in the local government area and while this report showed a decline, the town did have a spike in this crime towards the end of 2019.
"Property crime is one of our core focuses and we put a lot of effort into trying to solve it," he said.
They've been able to access homes without even breaking a window and they've just walked in through an unlocked door or window.
- NSW Police Cowra Sergeant Rod Buhr
For businesses, he said CCTV was a great weapon in the arsenal of weapons to solve this crime.
"It's how we've been able to solve many commercial break and enters," Sgt Buhr said.
"If we get top quality CCTV it just makes our job easier and it also becomes a deterrent."
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While data shows the number of break and enters in homes has dropped, Sgt Buhr said some of these crimes occur when people do not lock their doors or windows.
"They've been able to access homes without even breaking a window and they've just walked in through an unlocked door or window," he said.
"If people do some small things they can greatly reduce their chances of being a victim of this crime."