Figures obtained by The Examiner showed that the number of crimes in March 2019 had risen compared with March 2018.

The biggest increase was in motor vehicle burglaries which were up a whopping 75 per cent.

Northern district Acting Commander Natasha Freeman said crime rates across Tasmania fluctuated "due to criminal group trends and the activities of a small number of high volume offenders".

She said serious crime was only up 1.9 per cent for the year, not 12 per cent.

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"Crime trends for the Northern district are no different and most years are ones of peaks and troughs," Acting Commander Freeman said.

"Coupled with this is that the serious crime clear up figure has increased since last year."

Acting Commander Freeman said a taskforce was targeting "those members of the community who continue to cause us harm through committing high-volume crime".

"This taskforce has had a number of successes already, which is complementing the work being done by all members of the Northern District," she said.

"Having said that, we still need the public's assistance. The public's help has led to a number of crimes being cleared throughout the year, and we would like this to continue."

Police Association Tasmanian president Colin Riley said the union had serious concerns about "the fatigue of first responder officers in the Launceston station" and inadequate staffing.

"Officers need time to do proactive policing," Mr Riley said.

"At the moment they are just going from job to job and there is no discretionary time to search vehicles or follow up a suspicious person on the street.

"Only by being proactive will you bring down the crime rate."

He said Launceston was the state's major fatigue "hot spot" for police officers ahead of Burnie, Devonport and Bridgewater.

"Launceston is the most significant fatigue hot spot and our greatest concern," Mr Riley said.

''In the past couple of weeks, we've had fatigued officers contact us in relation to their workload."

Mr Riley said the allocation of police by management often did not take into account officers who were away on maternity leave, sick leave or training courses.

"We know the government has bolstered numbers but we want to know the methodology for where they are placed - we want to know where our members are," he said.

Commander Freeman encouraged the public to contact either Crime Stoppers or Launceston Police with any information they may have regarding "anyone who is consistently committing crime and impacting on our community".

"The greater Northern community makes a crucial contribution to this result, continuing to consider their personal, house and vehicle security and through a willingness to share observations and information with their local police," she said.

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