Crime in Western Australia is tackled by the

Western Australia Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

and the Western Australian legal system.

History

Massacres of indigenous Australians

A number of

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

s of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

, some as part of the frontier wars, occurred from the 1830s until well into the 20th century. Few of the perpetrators were ever brought to justice.

Bushrangers

The colony had its share of bushrangers in the 19th century, the most well-known of whom was " Moondyne Joe".

Crime statistics

2003-2004

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

recorded lower rates than most other states in Australia for violent offences, but had the highest rate of burglary. In 2003 the prison population increased by 3.4% with a similar increase in 2004.

2007–2008

homicides Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

, 3,903 sexual assaults, 22,708 assaults and 1,849

robberies Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

were recorded, with a total of 33,890 offences against the person. 39,482 incidents of burglary and 82,963 incidents of theft were recorded, with a total of 177,846 offences against property.

2008–2009

The chance of being a victim of physical assault was 3.8%. In comparison, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

rated 5.7% and New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory each rated 2.8%. The rate of assault was 2,199 offenders per 100,000 people, compared with the Northern Territory's 4,832 and the Australian Capital Territory's 1,096. The chance of being a victim of a break-in in Western Australia was 5.1%. This compared to the Northern Territory's 7.7% and Tasmania's rate of 2.6%. 68 homicides, 3,753 sexual assaults, 22,869 assaults and 1,862 robberies were recorded, with a total of 34,492 offences against the person. 36,364 incidents of burglary and 86,487 incidents of theft were recorded, in a total of 169,263 offences against property.

2009–2010

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for 2009/10 showed that police action was taken against 2072.1 people per 100,000 head of population in WA. The chance of being a victim of break-in was 5.2%. 76 homicides, 3,246 sexual assaults, 22,394 assaults and 1,70293 robberies were recorded in Western Australia, in a total of 32,922 offences against the person. 30,043 incidents of burglary, 73,215 incidents of theft were recorded in a total of 143,844 offences against property.

2010–2011

The chance of being a victim of physical assault was 3.6%. This compared to the Northern Territory rate of 5.8% and the lowest,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

's, rate of 2.0%. The chance of being a victim of break-in was 3.7%, a significant drop from the previous two years. The highest-rating Northern Territory scored 6.8% and the lowest,

, 2.2%. 103 homicides, 2,900 sexual assaults, 22,854 assaults and 1,793 robberies were recorded in a total of 32,479 offences against the person. 35,555 incidents of burglary and 77,897 incidents of theft were recorded in a total of 152,649 offences against property.

2011–2012

91 homicides, 2,645 sexual assaults, 22,818 assaults and 1,777 robberies were recorded in a total of 32,091 offences against the person. 36,551 incidents of burglary and 85,541 incidents of theft were recorded in a total of 160,445 offences against property.

2013-2014

Police statistics showed 86 homicides, 3,645 sexual assaults, 16,236 violent assaults, and 106 robberies.

2014-2015

Police recorded 88 homicides, 3,159 sexual assaults, 27,664 domestic and non-domestic assaults, and 1,359 robberies.

2015-2016

3,946 sexual assaults, 33,348 assaults and 135 robberies.

Indigenous imprisonment rates

A leading researcher in prison reform,

Gerry Georgatos Gerry Georgatos ( gr, Γεράσιμος Γεωργάτος; born 1962) is a university researcher and social justice and human rights campaigner based in Western Australia. He has campaigned for prison reform, as well as championing the rights o ...

, said in 2014 that one in thirteen of all Aboriginal adult males in WA is in prison. He stated that this is the highest jailing rate in the world, with WA "...the highest jailer from a racialised lens of our Aboriginal people".