| Q1 | What does ‘recorded crime’ mean? |
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| Recorded crime refers to criminal offences that come to the attention of, and are formally recorded by, NSW Police. Recorded crime statistics are extracted from NSW Police’s Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS). This is the record keeping system NSW Police use for all police operations.
On this website:
- the counting units are recorded criminal incidents (except for murder and manslaughter where the counting units are victims) rather than recorded offences; and
- the data are categorised by date of reporting to police (or date of detection by police) rather than by date of occurrence of the offence.
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| Q2 | What is a ‘criminal incident’? |
| A criminal incident is defined as an activity detected by or reported to police, which:
- involved the same offender(s);
- involved the same victim(s);
- occurred at (or, in the case of fires, started at) the one location;
- occurred during one uninterrupted period of time;
- falls into one offence category;
- falls into one incident type (for example, ‘actual’, ‘attempted’, ‘conspiracy’).
For example, one offender assaulting two victims would be counted as one criminal incident. Alternatively, suppose a man reports to police that his neighbour demanded money from him, then assaulted him when he did not comply. For such an event, two criminal incidents are recorded in COPS because two distinct offence types are involved (demand money with menaces and assault) even though the same parties were involved at the same time and in the same place.
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| Q3 | Why can’t I access crime statistics before 1995? |
| The COPS system was introduced in April 1994 so the first complete calendar year of data available is for 1995. Data collected from the system that preceded COPS is not comparable.
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| Q4 | Why can’t I see crime statistics for last month? |
| In April each year, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research releases detailed crime statistics for the preceding calendar year. These data are included in our annual report New South Wales Recorded Crime Statistics and in our online data tools. Due to resource limitations the online tools are only updated annually. Our three-monthly report Recorded Crime Quarterly Update provides data between annual releases.
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| Q5 | Why are there no data for Steal from Person prior to 2002? |
| A change in the recording of steal from person by NSW Police in 2001 resulted in a break in the series for this offence. In August 2001 NSW Police issued a guideline clarifying the definition of steal from person which caused a sharp increase in the number of steal from person incidents.
In response to the break in the series, steal from person data prior to January 2002 has been set to zero. This does not mean that there were no recorded incidents of steal from person; it means that the number of incidents of steal from person from before January 2002 cannot be compared with the number recorded after this date.
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| Q6 | What is the difference between break and enter dwelling and non-dwelling? |
| Break and enter – dwelling shows burglaries occurring in places where people live. Most break and enter – dwellings occur in houses and units but break-ins of caravans, garages, yards and residential sheds are also included here. Temporary residential accommodation such as motels, holiday apartments and youth hostels are not included in this category.
Break and enter – non-dwelling refers to all premises that are NOT residential dwelling. It includes shops, offices, factories, warehouses, schools, hospitals, licensed premises and temporary accommodation.
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| Q7 | What is the difference between steal from dwelling and break and enter – dwelling? |
| The difference lies in the way that the offender gains entry into the dwelling. A person committing a ‘steal from dwelling’ does not ‘break in’ but gains access in a more passive manner. Steal from dwelling covers the same premises types as break and enter – dwelling, which are described directly above.
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| Q8 | What is the difference between ‘Sexual assault’ and ‘Indecent assault, act of indecency’ and ‘Other sexual offences’? |
| The police subcategories that comprise each of these offence types are listed below:
Sexual Assault:
Sexual assault, Aggravated sexual assault, Assault with intent to have sexual intercourse
Indecent Assault, Act of Indecency:
Indecent assault, Aggravated indecent assault, Act of indecency, Aggravated act of indecency
Other Sexual Offences:
Incest, Carnal knowledge, Wilful and obscene exposure, Indecent communication, Peep or pry, Other sexual offence (not elsewhere classified)
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| Q9 | Why are there numbers missing from my report? |
| There are a few reasons why numbers may be missing from your report:
- You selected a combination of premises type and offence which contradict each other e.g. premises type: carpark, offence type: break and enter – dwelling. Since a carpark is not a dwelling, there will be no recorded incidents of this offence in this premises type.
- You selected a small local government area which has a low level of recorded crime e.g. Lord Howe Island.
- You selected an offence which has very few incidents each year e.g. murder. Although there will be recorded incidents of murder in NSW as a whole, many local government areas will not record any incidents of murder.
- You selected offence type: Steal from person
In August 2001, a guideline was issued to NSW Police clarifying the definition of the steal from person offence category. This directive caused a sharp increase in the number of steal from person incidents recorded from August 2001 onwards.
In response to this break in series, the online data tools do not display the number of recorded incidents of steal from person before January 2002. If you request data for earlier years, the table will show zeros. This does not mean that there were no recorded incidents of steal from person: it means that the number of incidents of steal from person from before January 2002 cannot be compared with the number recorded after this date.
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| Q10 | Why is there no information on driving offences? |
| In July 2003, NSW Police changed the way they classify traffic incidents. The incidence of specific driving offences can no longer be determined directly from police incident categories.
For this reason, no data on driving offences are available through the online data tools.
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| Q11 | How can I find out which Local Government Area I live in? |
| Each query tool allows you to search for your local government area using LGA name, suburb or postcode. If you are still unsure of the local government area, check the Department of Local Government's search tool.
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| Q12 | What is a Statistical Division / Statistical Subdivision? |
| Statistical Divisions and Subdivisions are geographic areas defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Each Statistical Division comprises one or more Statistical Subdivisions, which in turn is made up of one or more Local Government Areas.
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| Q13 | How is the “rate per 100,000 population” calculated? |
| This is the formula used to calculate the rate per 100,000 population:
Number of criminal incidents
----------------------------------------- X 100,000
Resident population of LGA
For example, in 2003 there were 450 incidents of assault reported to NSW Police in Hurstville LGA. The population of Hurstville at that time was 75,230. The rate is calculated as:
450
----------- X 100,000 = 598.2
75,230
For the calculation of rates, the population data are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics publication, Regional Population Growth, Australia (Catalogue No. 3218.0).
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| Q14 | Which LGAs have a population of less than 3,000 in the year 2009? |
| Balranald, Bombala, Boorowa, Brewarrina, Carrathool, Central Darling, Conargo, Jerilderie, Lord Howe Island, Murrumbidgee, Unincorporated Far West, Urana and Warren |
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| Q15 | The tables aren’t exactly what I want. How can I get different information? |
| Please contact the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research on 02 9231 9190 or email bcsr@agd.nsw.com.au.
It would be helpful if you could let us know that you tried to use our website information tools, and that you couldn’t find what you wanted. We will note your comments, and may be able to incorporate your suggestions into a revised model.
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