NCJ Number
136917
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The New South Wales (Australia) Crimes Act, 1900 imposes a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment for ordinary malicious damage. According to police statistics, there has been a significant increase in the number of malicious damage offenses in New South Wales in recent years.
Abstract
It is likely that only a small proportion of malicious damage offenses are reported to police at all. The information presented here is drawn from a random sample of 600 police records from 1987 and fiscal year 1989-1990. There was a 17-percent increase in the reports of malicious damage during this period. Private vehicles were targets in nearly one-third of reported cases; private dwellings comprised the second largest target group, while shops, public and commercial vehicles, schools, and churches were other frequent targets. Fifty-seven percent of incidents involved property owned by private individuals. In only 18 percent of this sample was a particular person either suspected or arrested for the crime; in only 40 percent of those cases did the victim know the alleged perpetrator. Detailed information on damage to cars and houses is provided and covers the time, day of the week, circumstances of the incident, cost of the damage, and clear-up rate.