Crime & safety
The authoritative source for crime in NSW is the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which publishes recorded incidents reported to or detected by NSW Police. Below are Forbes's 12 major offences for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026 (the year ending March 2026), with each rate (per 100,000 people) placed next to the NSW rate. The 'vs NSW' column is Forbes's rate divided by the NSW rate: 1.0 means the same as NSW, below 1.0 is lower than NSW, above 1.0 is higher.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Rate per 100,000
- Crime counts adjusted for population, so different-sized places can be compared.
- Compared to NSW (×)
- How the local rate compares to the NSW average (1.0 = the same).
- Recorded incident
- An incident reported to police — not a proven charge or conviction.
- Major offence categories
- The high-level offence groups official rates are calculated for.
- Police Area Command / Police District
- The local NSW Police command responsible for an area.
- BOCSAR
- The official source of NSW recorded-crime data.
Safety at a glance
- Reporting period
- April 2025 to March 2026 (12 months)Latest BOCSAR recorded-crime release.
- How Forbes compares
- 2 of 12 major offences below the NSW rateThe two offences below NSW are steal from retail store (0.78×) and robbery (0.52×, 1 recorded incident).
- Highest relative rates
- Break & enter (non-dwelling) 4.57×, steal from motor vehicle 3.57×, break & enter (dwelling) 2.89×These offences are the furthest above the NSW rate. Malicious damage to property (121 incidents) and steal from motor vehicle (98 incidents) are the two highest-volume offences locally.
- Small-population caution
- Rates move sharply on a relatively small number of incidentsForbes's population (~9,295) is small, so a handful of extra or fewer incidents can swing a per-100,000 rate a lot year to year. This is a property of the statistic, not a comment on the figures: robbery's rate here rests on a single recorded incident. Read these figures as counts first.
- Local policing
- Central West Police DistrictForbes Police Station (6–8 Victoria Lane, Forbes) sits within the Central West Police District, part of the NSW Police Western Region. Confirm exact boundaries on the BOCSAR mapping tool.
| Offence | Incidents | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malicious damage to property | 121 | 1,301.8 | 554.7 | 2.35× |
| Steal from motor vehicle | 98 | 1,054.3 | 295.5 | 3.57× |
| Other stealing offences | 84 | 903.7 | 463.1 | 1.95× |
| Domestic violence related assault | 77 | 828.4 | 451.9 | 1.83× |
| Non-domestic violence related assault | 60 | 645.5 | 401.8 | 1.61× |
| Break & enter (dwelling) | 57 | 613.2 | 212.3 | 2.89× |
| Break & enter (non-dwelling) | 39 | 419.6 | 91.8 | 4.57× |
| Motor vehicle theft | 35 | 376.5 | 171.2 | 2.20× |
| Steal from retail store | 27 | 290.5 | 372.5 | 0.78× |
| Sexual assault | 25 | 269.0 | 154.4 | 1.74× |
| Sexual touching & other sexual offences | 17 | 182.9 | 104.1 | 1.76× |
| Robbery | 1 | 10.8 | 20.6 | 0.52× |
Major offences in Forbes vs the NSW rate, per 100,000 population, for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026. Source: BOCSAR LGA & NSW recorded-crime tables. 'vs NSW' = Forbes rate ÷ NSW rate.
BOCSAR calculates rates only for these 'major offences', so high-volume justice offences (e.g. breach of bail or AVO) aren't rate-compared here. These are recorded incidents, not convictions, and counts move with population and reporting. Forbes's rates are higher than the NSW average across most major-offence categories in this period; we present the counts and rates without characterising cause. Because the population base is small, a per-100,000 rate here is built on relatively few incidents and can move sharply between periods — that is a factual property of the measure, and it applies to the figures in both directions. For the latest figures, trends and other offence types, use BOCSAR's tools below.
Sources — check it yourself
- BOCSAR — Forbes LGA crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — NSW recorded-crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — Crime statistics by LGA · Updated quarterly
- BOCSAR — Crime Mapping Tool (compare to NSW)
- NSW Police Force — Forbes Police Station (Central West Police District)
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.