With assaults related to domestic violence, for example, the official figures show the police dealt with 106 cases in 2016 but 73 last year. 

Inspector Matthew Hemsworth said: “That trend is continuing”. He said there had been one case of family violence in the last six weeks.  

In 2016, Glen Innes was the third worst area of New South Wales but the incidence then started falling so Glen Innes improved to tenth worst last year. 

The downward trends seems to be continuing in other types of crime. Inspector Hemsworth said that there had been no break-ins of homes in the past eight weeks in the town. There had been one break in of a business premisesin recent weeks and the offender had been caught. 

There had been incidents of non-domestic assaults but most were related to one pub brawl. 

Inspector Hemsworth was pleased with the decline in reports of domestic violence. He said the police had put a high priority on it. They had, for example, been active in making sure that Apprehended Violence Orders are adhered to – these are the orders which courts impose in civil disputes between spouses if one says they fear violence from the other. 

Inspector Hemsworth said that the police had been calling on people subject to AVOs to make sure they were keeping the conditions. They are also calling on people who’ve taken out AVOs. 

He praised other organisations, both governmental and non-governmental in the town for raising the importance of the issue. There are specialist campaigners, particularly the Safe in our Town group.

The police are keen to point out that Glen Innes is low on crime compared with other comparable towns, some of them nearby. It is relatively safe. 

Inspector Hemsworth has been in the job for about a year. Two new new constables were appointed recently.