Factsheet: Reporting Crime to NSW Police & Police Discretion to Investigate

Police may ask you to provide a statement at the time you report the crime, or at a later date. A statement is a written document describing what happened to you. Police draft it after interviewing you to find out what happened.

It is not possible to force police to investigate your report. If police fail to investigate a crime for an improper reason, then you would have grounds for a formal complaint. If police fail to investigate a domestic violence incident or other serious crime, you may also have grounds for a formal complaint.

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