Breaking News
Petrol fuels crime surge
Kim Shaw
16 April 2008
THE surging price of petrol is taking its toll on the northern beaches with a 15 per cent leap in fraud crimes over the last year.
Releasing his annual snapshot of crime yesterday, Bureau of Crime Statistics chief Don Weatherburn said the substantial rise represented increasing numbers of motorists fleeing petrol stations without paying as rising interest rates and living costs began to bite on the northern beaches.
The statistics revealed fraud offences had jumped from 778 in 2006 to 898 last year.
"It has been a problem in the northern beaches for some time," Mr Weatherburn said. "There's an implied contract to pay every time you pull into a petrol station and when you tear off without paying it's considered fraud."
Manly police commander Dave Darcy said petrol stations should start using a pre-pay system. Superintendent Darcy, who came from Bankstown command, said the pre-pay system worked well.
"It would put an end to petrol theft and would also eliminate number plate theft," Supt Darcy said. "This will only rise with petrol prices."
The statistics come as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday announced a new fuel scheme which could save motorists 2c a litre on petrol. Petrol stations will have to notify the ACCC every day by 2pm the price they intend to charge the next day. Commuters will be able to find out the prices for their local area by signing up to an email or SMS alert.
The top five crime categories in the northern beaches last year were malicious damage to property (2762), stealing from a car (1275), household break-ins (932), fraud (898) and theft from a household (563).
Sexual assaults jumped 16 per cent from 69 in 2006 to 80 in 2007. Break and enter offences in premises other than households also rose from 536 in 2006 to 611 in 2007.
The good news is household break-ins are falling. The most significant change in crime rates was a 27 per cent drop in household break-ins, one of the biggest drops in a major offence category throughout Sydney.
The one murder on the northern beaches last year was in Warringah and by far the most popular illegal drug was cannabis.
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