Offences down in Auckland and Counties-Manukau but fight against crime continues

It is encouraging to see that crime statistics show a small decline but the National-led Government and Police won’t be taking the pressure off criminals,” MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

Police released crime statistics today which show that recorded offences per 10,000 dropped 1.3 percent across the country in the year to 30 June 2010. In the previous year recorded offences per head of population increased by 2.8 percent.

“It is great that recorded crime has levelled off and shown a modest decrease.

“In Auckland recorded crime is down 6.6%. Murder rates have seen a significant reduction of 28.6%. In Counties-Manukau recorded crime is down 3.3%. Murder rates have seen a significant reduction of 57.1%. These encouraging reductions in recorded crime reflect the tremendous work by staff in Auckland and Counties-Manukau.

“This is an encouraging sign; however we won’t be taking the pressure off the criminals anytime soon. There is still a lot of work to be done and National is committed to continue taking action against crime.

“Over the past 18 months Police have used extra manpower, stronger laws, and new tools to claim back our streets and neighbourhoods making them safer for Kiwi families.

“Each and every officer is to be congratulated for their hard work rolling back the influence of criminals and making our communities safer.

“There were 441,960 recorded offences in the 2009-2010 financial year compared to 442,540 the previous year.

“Crime statistics show the trend in recent years of increasing numbers of violent crimes appears to be flattening. Assaults in public places are trending down and large rises in family violence in recent years were more moderate in 2009/10

“An abnormal spike of 12 unrelated murders in August 2009 contributed to a higher than usual number of murders (up 38.6 percent) during the year. However over a 25 year period, the murder rate remains flat.

“Fraud showed the biggest decrease (25.6 percent) while robbery, burglaries, motor vehicle theft, weapons offences and offences against justice were also down.

“Police resolved 523 more offences (212,561) to increase the national resolution rate from 47.9 percent to 48.1 percent.

“National is continuing to take action on violent crime and make families feel safer in their homes and communities.”

ENDS

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