Unpunished crime.

The " Daily Telegraph " had the good fortune to have a photographer present when a crime was committed near Central railway station. This photographer captured graphic pictures of the culprits threatening a pedestrian and stealing his valuables - including the pair of high priced big name joggers he was wearing.These pictures clearly identified the perpetrators.
The pictures were presented to the police - who showed no interest. They declined to investigate the crime - or followup in any way.
When this story hit the front pages it provoked an avalanche of irate readers detailing similar police inactivity. Reader after reader told of house robberies that the police failed to attend or even record details. The best they could hope for was the issue of an " event number " which would be necessary before an insurance claim could proceed.
This revelation provoked contrasting comment from the police and other compilers of crime statistics. The police claim burglaries are declining - and quote the 1997-98 statistics that in that year there were 802 burglaries and 299 " stealing from a house" events - compared to 336 and 287 respectively in 2006-7.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics chipped in with a claim that there were 127,500 victims of assault, 22,300 people robbed, 26,300 burglaries and 63,100 attempted burglaries that were not reported because citizens considered reporting to be a waste of time. These figures should be taken with a grain of salt because it is difficult to imagine how anyone can provide accurate figures of unreported crime.
What does matter is the fact that if the police consider burglaries and stealing " trivial " and not worth following up then they are missing a huge opportunity to make this state a safer place to live.
If there were 336 burglaries in NSW it is not likely that the culprits were 336 individual burglars. The typical burglar is probably a junkie looking to raise money for his next fix - and he or she carries out multiple crimes.
If the police investigate each burglary report - and take fingerprints and DNA evidence left at the scene - when a culprit eventually slips up - and they all do, usually when trying to flog stolen goods in a pub or fence them to a second hand dealer - the charges are for multiple crimes, not just a single offense that will attract a slap on the wrist punishment such as a bond. A burglar with a long charge sheet can expect a custodial sentence - preventing further burglaries while in prison - and the hope that drug detoxification may prevent a relapse to more crime when released.
The state government - and the police commissioner - needs to understand that resdents do not consider a criminal breaking into the sanctity of their home and stealing treasured items to be " trivial " - and not worth police manpower and resources. We pay taxes to fund the police force, the court system and the prisons. We expect these entities to perform - and in the case of burglary crime it is clear this is not happening !