During the last fiscal year, more than 1,900 acts of violence, such as assaults, robberies, hitting cars with fishing weights, and shooting stones with homemade slingshots, were reported, according to ABC News.

Local official Eddie Smith told the media that the causes of the situation are related to the closure of youth programs for social reintegration and against alcoholism.

In addition, North West Central MP Merome Beard affirmed that the little more than 5,000 inhabitants of Carnarvon are financially and mentally exhausted by the level of insecurity generated throughout the city.

Several people have been seriously injured and there is a danger that a tragedy is imminent due to burglaries and home invasions or the use of homemade slingshots, he said.

According to police statistics, crimes in general increased by nearly 10 percent compared to the 2019-20 period, with house and business breaks-in up by 35 percent compared to a similar period.

A nearly 50-percent rise in auto theft was also reported, and there were more than 152 reports of assaults on passersby in the current period.

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