All offences reported by police across the ACT dropped an average of 12.2 per cent as the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions hit their maximum effect across the territory from March to the end of June.
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The latest second-quarter crime statistics posted by ACT police, compared with the same period in 2019, showed assaults across the territory fell by 21 per cent, burglaries by 39.3 per cent, robberies by 44.6 per cent and theft by 38.2 per cent.
Sexual assaults dropped by 36.8 per cent, however, most support agencies believed there was significant under-reporting of this crime type across the territory as a direct result of victims being "trapped" at home with perpetrators and unwilling to report.
The number of family violence incidents reported to police over the three months to the end of June was 747, only seven more than for the same period last year. The number of offenders apprehended for family violence fell by 42 per cent to 131 over the three months. Reported assaults related to family violence also fell.
Back in late May, at the peak of this latest reporting period, former chief police officer Ray Johnson expressed his concern that the family violence numbers masked a much larger under-reporting issue during the lockdown period. "We are very conscious of that [under-reporting issue]," he said.
The overall decline in community crime has not been unexpected by police.
The closure of Canberra's bars and clubs for much of the reporting period resulted in a marked decline in alcohol-related violence and crime to the extent where the teams which usually patrol the city's nightspots have now been pivoted into units for compliance checks related to COVID-19.
The most significant anomaly over the three-month period was the 21.4 per cent rise in traffic offences, a phenomenon which also has been observed in other developed countries.
In the UK, the London Metropolitan Police have noted the highest speeds during 2020 than in any year previously recorded, according to detective superintendent Andy Cox from the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command.
Speeding has also been a major issue here in the ACT, with 932 offences reported during May alone, up from 684 for the same month last year.
The numbers also revealed any police inclination toward lenience in issuing cautions, rather than traffic infringement notices to errant speeders, was falling.
During April, 545 drivers were issued with speeding fines, the highest monthly total since August 2014.
Over the most recent quarter, the issuing of speeding infringements by police in the ACT increased by 52.6 per cent compared with the same period last year. Police have also noted a significant lift in high-range speeding offences and a more brazen driver attitude towards speeding in general.
Most recently, a 17-year-old riding an unregistered motorcycle was fined more than $4000 after he was caught speeding 62km/h over the limit on Horse Park Drive.
"We are seeing this behaviour fairly regularly, and that's very unfortunate," detective inspector Marcus Boorman, the head of ACT traffic operations, said.
Drink-drivers apprehended by police fell from 258 to 208 over the corresponding three-month periods, almost certainly a result of clubs and pubs not being open for much of the time.
Although speeds have risen, less traffic on Canberra's roads during the lockdown period has meant there have been fewer road crashes resulting in injury.
Two people died on Canberra's roads during the quarter.
Increasing the level of road safety across the territory has been identified by the ACT's new chief police officer, Neil Gaughan, as one of his key priorities in the next 12 months, after he observed that Canberra had some of the best roads in the country but some of the worst driver behaviours.
Looking at the nine specific ACT regions in which the crime data was recorded across the ACT, residents of the inner north - traditionally a "hotspot" for this crime type - would have breathed a sigh of relief as burglaries in their area fell by 45.6 per cent.
With more people working from home over the period, residential break-ins across the various recording regions have declined.
Tuggeranong burglaries fell by 34.4 per cent and in the inner south by 24.5 per cent.
Property damage has also fallen significantly right across the territory, down by 36 per cent.
