On the case: Detective Inspector Steve Clarke thanks the community for their help with fighting crime.
CRIME in the Hastings has dropped, the latest Mid North Coast Local Area Command statistics reveal.
Assault, break and enters, drug detection, robberies, stealings and car thefts have dropped, in some categories by more than 100 cases.
The number of reported sexual assault cases remains the same.
Mid North Coast Local Area Command crime manager Detective Inspector Steve Clarke said a strong relationship with the community had helped solve and reduce the occurrence of crime.
Insp Clarke said the arrest of a teenager, who last week was charged with six counts of break and entering Lighthouse Beach properties, highlighted the police force’s solid ties with the community.
A witness contacted police after they saw a young person jumping out of a neighbour’s window in Burrawong Drive.
The man stayed on the phone with police to help officers track down the accused 17-year-old at a unit in Cathie Road.
“I commend the public for their willingness to help police during incidences like this,” Insp Clarke said.
Project Eyewatch, which was launched last month, has been key to helping police track down criminals, Insp Clarke said.
This program is an online version of Neighbourhood Watch and is designed to share information including images, operational results and police activity with the community.
Illegal drugs ranging from cannabis to amphetamines and methamphetamines -including speed, cocaine and ice - are distributed in the Hastings, Insp Clarke said.
Last year’s statewide Operation Memory netted numerous suspects in our region.
They were charged with possession, supply and the manufacture of a range of illicit substances, Insp Clarke said.
Every illegal drug is a target for Mid-North Coast police.
“One week, we might raid three properties to seize cannabis and, three weeks later, we could find amphetamines in 10 properties,” Insp Clarke said.
Wauchope is of particular concern for the community after a spate of break-ins and a robbery this month.
SPAR Express Supermarket, the Wauchope Community Childcare Centre and Hastings Valley Real Estate all were hit in the same week.
But police are yet to track down the culprits.
Wauchope residents have long called for greater police presence in the area, as the nine full-time officers posted in the town cannot man the station 24 hours a day.
Mid North Coast Local Area Command Superintendent Peter Thurtell said a number of operations that targeted criminal activity in Wauchope were underway.
“An additional officer from Port Macquarie was placed in Wauchope for three months from February 19 to provide a greater operational capacity,” he said.
“So far this year, there have been 18 break and enters into private residences and 20 into commercial premises.
“Of these reported incidents, there has only been one break and enter into a residence during May and three into commercial premises.”
Main crime categories in the Hastings in the past year: