The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research's (BOCSAR) quarterly update shows 214 cases of "malicious damage to property" were reported to police in the past year to March 2021.

This is compared to 176 between March 2019 and March 2020.

There was also a sharp rise in reported incidences of "steal from motor vehicle", increasing from 74 to 119.

Reported motor vehicle thefts more than doubled in the past year, from 24 to 49.

Reported cases of "break and enter dwelling" also rose, from 51 to 73 however there was a decrease in incidences of "break and enter non dwelling", from 37 to 26.

The number of reported cases of "steal from dwelling" jumped from 51 to 67, while incidences of "steal from retail store" fell slightly, from 32 to 28.

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There were three reported cases of "steal from person", up from one on the previous 12 months while reported fraud cases rose from 60 to 82.

Reported cases of assault have risen across the board, with an increase in domestic violence relation assaults (87 to 96), non-domestic violence related assaults (91 to 99), sexual assaults (20 to 36) and indecent assaults, acts of indecency or other sexual offences (20 to 36).

This trend has been seen across the state, with a sharp and unexpected jump in sexual assaults reported to NSW Police in March 2021.

Police recorded 940 sexual assaults in March 2021; 300 more than in February 2021 and 61 per cent more than the monthly average.

In the Central West, there was a 52 per cent increase in the monthly average of sexual assaults.

According to Jackie Fitzgerald from BOCSAR, "the increase appears to be due to a temporary rise in victim willingness to formally report sexual violence".

"The timing of the increase closely aligns with saturation media coverage of numerous sexual assault allegations in late February and March 2021," she said.

There was one recorded case of both "robbery without a weapon" and "robbery with a weapon not a firearm", while there was one murder reported in both March 2019 to March 2020 and between March 2020 and March 2021.

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