BELCONNEN town centre is at risk of overtaking Civic as Canberra's number one crime hot spot, according to an analysis of the latest ACT crime data.
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An interactive ACT crime map shows crime in the capital has been steadily decreasing in most areas of the city over recent years.
The overall number of incidents recorded by ACT policing has dropped from 62,251 in 2008 to 48,761 in 2012.
In particular, the number of crimes committed in Civic, the area with the highest number of assaults, has dropped by about a third since 2008 but in Belconnen, the number of incidents has increased by nearly 10 per cent over the same period.
In most categories, crime rates in Belconnen have remained stagnant or increased slightly over the past five years and in some cases, have already overtaken Civic, such as the number of sexual assaults (53) and non-car related thefts (753) last year. On a rate per 1000 residents basis, Civic remains higher, due to the higher number of people living in the area.
Fyshwick had the highest number of burglaries in Canberra last year, with 104 recorded during the year, in line with 101 recorded in 2011.
Phillip, and Canberra's largest residential suburb, Kambah, shared the dubious distinction of being the areas where owners were most likely to have a vehicle stolen (47 in 2012), followed closely by Belconnen (45), Griffith (36), Braddon (34), Wanniassa (33) and Monash (32).
While most crime-related incidents have followed a downward trend for Canberra overall, on the roads the news was not so positive. The number of road crashes resulting in injury has increased every year since 2008, except for a small turn around in 2010, with 611 incidents reported by police last year. Those crashes were most likely to occur in Civic (33), Belconnen (29), Fyshwick (20) and Lyneham (18) in 2012.
The number of people killed on ACT roads has also shown little improvement: after dipping to a low of five deaths last year, it more than doubled in 2012 to 11, although still some way off the 18 deaths recorded in 2010.
A spokesman for ACT Police and Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell said it was pleasing to see long-term criminal trends decreasing in the ACT, particularly following targeted investment by the ACT government and ACT Policing to reduce the amount of property crime including motor vehicle theft.
However Mr Corbell's spokesman said the government was aware of the number of injuries occurring on the roads.
“The government has directed ACT Policing to have specific focus on road safety as part of the 2012-13 Police Purchase Agreement, signed in June 2012, and I am optimistic that this incidence of road accidents and injuries will decrease as a result of targeted operations from ACT Policing,” the spokesman said.
