The Leader can reveal a specialist strike force that rallied in the weeks after the data cut-off - codenamed Operation Western Mongoose - has been making a breakthrough with hundreds of charges laid in its first two months.

A report from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) released on Thursday shows Tamworth and Gunnedah were among the handful of local government areas with the highest rates of break-and-enters by population relative to the state average.

"To see those figures is a bit of a kick in the guts - to see how much hard work we are putting in and how hard we are trying, but the figures are still like that," Tamworth police union (PANSW) branch vice chair Terry Melville said.

The numbers date back to March 2022.

Strike Force Western Mongoose was launched in April in direct response to a spate of car thefts and break-ins in the first few months of the year.

Oxley Police District Acting Superintendent Kylie Chinnery confirmed the operation had arrested 78 offenders - half of which were juveniles - and levelled 309 charges so far.

The 39 young people accounted for more than two thirds of the charges.

"We do think that is having an impact," Acting Superintendent Chinnery said.

She acknowledged the new report as well as the community's concerns, and said police were doing all they could.

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The BOCSAR statistics show that in the two years to March 2022, break-and-enter dwelling offences in Tamworth rose by 15.6 per cent, while motor vehicle theft shot up by more than 50 per cent.

Tamworth was 4.3 times the state average when it came to the rate of break-ins per 100,000 population in the 12 months to March 2022, while Gunnedah was five and Moree was 8.7.

In the year leading up to March 2022, Tamworth police were called to 572 break-ins and 214 car thefts, compared to 495 and 142 the previous year.

"It confirms what we have been seeing on the ground at the coalface," Mr Melville said.

"I think those figures will always be confronting and I think it just shows the situation we are in at the moment.

"Break-and-enters have such a personal effect on people."

The PANSW has been calling for eight new police officers to be posted to the Oxley command permanently to bolster its proactive team.

Mr Melville said officers dedicated to Strike Force Western Mongoose were doing incredible work and it showed what can be done with more resources.

"The only tool that we would have to turn this around, to combat those figures, is some more staff," he said.

"We are the ones that will turn it around, we are the ones that will win, but we need the tools to do so."

He said with the colder weather and strike force making moves, it was no time to become complacent.

Residents across the district are reminded to make it hard for opportunistic offenders by locking doors and cars, and reporting all suspicious activity to police.

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