The 2008 figures showed minor assaults had increased by 35 - 9 of those in Queenstown; serious assaults had increased by 32 - 24 of those recorded in Queenstown; and intimidation and threats had increased by 21, although there were 5 fewer in the resort.
While violent offences may have shown an increase, overall in Queenstown crime had reduced by 4.5% - from 1917 reported incidents in 2007 to 1830 last year.
They were numbers that made Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, "very, very happy".
"Overall, I'm really happy.
"You can always focus on parts of it, but I would have to say if you look at a place with a growing population and a growing visitor base, in many of the areas our offending is either static, down or only minorly up . . . if it's up, it's small numbers.
"I'm very, very happy. Although we always strive to do better all the time and think of better ways of policing things and catching people, Queenstown essentially is a safe place to live.
"The only rider I'd put on that would be alcohol-related issues - disorder, violence through those small hours."Snr Sgt Fookes said the only statistic that was "particularly significant" was that of serious assaults.
"The interesting thing there is, we could probably say, when you boil it down, it comes up with one extra [incident] every two weeks.
"What I can say is over that time there have been, thankfully, comparatively few where there has been serious injury.
"There have been minor injuries, but very, very few where . . . you're concerned if somebody's going to pull out of it.""I think there's an element of [increased reporting] in serious violence as well."Snr Sgt Fookes said the police were also putting more investigative time into serious assault accusations, which also led to more arrests.
"The more you push, the more you uncover."Also, "nearly all" of the assault incidents were alcohol-related, he said.
"During most hours of the day, Queenstown is a very, very safe place to be.
"If you happen to be out and about at night, after 11pm through to 5am, you're affected by alcohol, then it's a slightly different story in terms of violence and disorder offences.
"There is a greater likelihood of being a victim or being involved, particularly if you're a young male . . . affected by alcohol out at night in Queenstown.
"Most of us have lived elsewhere, particularly if it's in a big city, and you take a different approach to safety - security of your vehicle, security of your home.
Rise in violent offences> From Page 1"Most people in Queenstown take a distinctly different approach to those living in big cities," he said.
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Clive Geddes said he agreed with Snr Sgt Fookes in that any trend which flattened out was "good news for a growing community".
However, the 24 recorded serious assaults were still of concern.
"I think that's really disappointing - I think that is probably the single biggest risk that we have to the reputation of the resort because of the likelihood that a serious assault will occur against an elderly person or a woman.
"To date, I understand it is very much young men with too much alcohol on board hitting each other and that's not acceptable.
"I don't think anyone in the community would say that's acceptable.
"But there is always a risk that will escalate to something greater."
Mr Geddes said the council, liquor licensees and the wider community were committed to helping the police in any way they could to continue bringing the numbers down.
There were several avenues the council was exploring - one was the continuation of the community guides at "peak times" of the year, which had been included in the council's long-term draft plan.
Another was working actively with liquor licensees and continuing a positive dialogue in forming a joint action plan, which was expected to be presented to Judge E. W. Unwin, of the Liquor Licensing Authority, later this year.
Otago rural crime stats
Going up
Serious assaults: 33% (73 to 97)
Minor assaults: 12% (76 to 85)
Sexual attacks: 425% (4 to 17)
Car conversion: 14% (49 to 56)
Theft: 8% (500 to 539)
Fraud: 123% (69 to 154)
Destruction of property: 11% (226 to 250)
Postal/Rail/Fire Service abuses: 50% (10 to 15)
Arms Act offences: 50% (10 to 15)
Going down
Grievous assaults: 11% (18 to 16)
Intimidation and threats: 13% (40 to 35)
Group assemblies: 100% (1 to 0)
Sexual affronts: 33% (3 to 2)
Drugs (not cannabis): 55% (11 to 5)
Drugs (cannabis only): 27% (172 to 126)
Disorder: 35% (356 to 232)
Sale of Liquor Act: 71% (42 to 12)
Drugs (new drugs): 71% (21 to 6)
Burglary: 26% (117 to 87)
Receiving: 83% (12 to 2)
Endangering: 100% (2 to 0)
Trespass: 28% (58 to 42)
Littering: 40% (5 to 3)
Animals: 33% (3 to 2)
