Youth crime is out of control but nobody is taking responsibility

As politicians continue to point the finger over who is responsible in the fight to combat the chronic crime problem in regional NSW, residents are being held at the mercy of young criminals.

Car theft is topping the list, which is being fuelled by young people under 18 posting their crime on social media.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures show motor vehicle theft was 12 per cent higher than prior to the pandemic in the regions.

Alarmingly in the year to September 2023, NSW Police commenced legal proceedings against 945 young people and 980 adults for motor vehicle theft in regional NSW (everywhere outside Greater Sydney).

In the year to September 2019 NSW Police commenced legal proceedings against 312 young people and 891 adults.

BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said crime rates in regional NSW were higher than Sydney with car theft, break-ins and assault the main offences.

"Something that has been apparent for a long time is there is a chronic crime problem in regional areas ... it's an ongoing issue where you have a higher risk of being a crime victim in regional areas," Ms Fitzgerald said.

While she said many crimes, particularly property, had been a long-term decline, lower than it was before the pandemic (the benchmark used as crime fell in that period), the offence bucking the trend was motor vehicle theft in regional NSW.

"It's a regional phenomena associated with young people offending" she said.

"Car theft is an interesting one, there has been an increase in posting their car theft exploits online.

"There is a social media influence of people posting their crimes and a concern it has led to more people engaging in that behaviour."

She said car theft in regional areas was also attributed to joy riding and transport while in Sydney there was a lower recovery rate due to organised crime.

She said there had also been an increase of young people being proceeded against for domestic and non-domestic violence offences, likely due to proactive policing.

Narromine Shire mayor Craig Davies has called for more police in regional NSW as crime was rife across the state and it was "as simple as that".

"One of the real obvious issues is that if you look at BOCSAR they highlight clearly rural crime in some instances is six to eight times higher than the equivalent in Sydney," Mr Davies said.

He said police numbers in the city were much higher per head of populations than they were in rural areas.

"It begs belief that the premier and ministers ignore what is obvious data that is available to them," Mr Davies said.

He said the current court system was failing in rural areas with the number of young people that have 30 to 40 charges against them.

"We need to do something about it, otherwise we are going to become another South Africa," he said.

"The crime rate is horrendous, there is no deterrent to young people to conform to community expectation.

"Unless we find a system that will bring about significant change it will get worse before it gets better."

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, who has been advocating about the rising youth crime in regional areas for a year, said "all crime is almost exclusively young crime" and every town was impacted.

He said the young offenders were breaking into people's homes or motels to steal cars.

"The crimes are getting more violent, they are videoing them and posting them on social media, which is egging on others to do the same," Mr Marshall said.

He said almost all young offenders were committing offences while they were on bail but were racking up 20 to 30 offences before they went before the court for sentencing, adding 63 per cent of crime committed in his region was by someone on bail.

Mr Marshall said the local courts needed to back up the police to do their job.

He also said there were more than 70 government and non-government organisations in Moree alone that received state and federal funding to work with young people.

"There is no accountability...there needs to be no extra money spent but the money spent needs to be more effective," he said.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said regional crime was on the rise, and it was disappointing the government was not listening to what our bush communities need.

"Local mayors, police and residents are calling for help and we need the government to step up and back this inquiry so the Parliament can look at this properly and hear directly from communities who want to share their stories, as well as their solutions," Mr Saunders said.

Regional NSW Minister Tara Moriarty said she had been meeting with police, mayors and business leaders right across NSW to listen what the key issues were affecting their towns.

Ms Moriarty said the government was supporting police on the ground, which was why they announced it would pay recruits to study, which has seen applications to join the force double.

"We know there are real concerns and issues around crime in our regions," Ms Moriarty said.

"We are working on the understanding that our prevention and diversion strategies, as much as the justice system, are important ways to break that cycle of crime and help bring back cohesion and a feeling safety in regional communities.

"This is a priority for the government, and we want to take the time required to get it right."