SYDNEY is emerging from a wave of gun crime after an alarming spate of drive-by shootings last year.
There were 20 shoot-and-run attacks in April and another 17 in July - the highest number recorded in almost two decades.
The average rate of drive-by shootings per month climbed to 11 by August but fell to 6.7 by December.
"We've just come to the end of a big peak which started in 2011," said NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) director Don Weatherburn.
At least one-third of the drive-by incidents were related to gangs, drugs and organised crime, and most of them took place in Sydney's west.
Dr Weatherburn warned the current downward trend was unlikely to be permanent, noting peaks were also recorded in 2000/01 and 2006.
"I have no idea if we are going to see another spike in shooting offences, time will tell," he said.
Overall, NSW is the safest it's been in 20 years, with crime rates stable or falling in all but one of the top 17 categories.
Police Minister Mike Gallacher said NSW was "blessed with the quality" of its police officers.
But despite the glowing report, which covers the 24 months to December last year, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police wanted to continue to drive the crime rates down.
" ... That's where they deserve to be," Mr Scipione said.
Opposition leader John Robertson said people in western and southwestern Sydney were still in danger from drive-by shootings.
"There is no time for the government to pat itself on the back and say things are good," Mr Robertson said, adding that he took his facts on gun crime from people who live in troubled areas.
Murder, car theft, break and enter and robbery are now at the lowest point they have been in more than two decades.
"NSW is a lot safer than it's been in years," Dr Weatherburn said.
However, the picture isn't all rosy, with break and enters up 30 per cent in Sydney's inner west and a 79 per cent increase in robbery with a weapon in the Hunter region.
Big increases were also recorded in possession and use of cocaine and amphetamines.
Fraud was the only major offence category to show a rise, up by about 16 per cent across NSW.
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