New Zealand Police yesterday released its second set of monthly indicative statistics on how many crimes have been reported to police, what crimes they have discovered and what preventive activities they have been engaged in.
The monthly reporting system was introduced in July.
Data from the month, in this case August, is compared with the corresponding month the year before, and complements the full set of New Zealand crime statistics released twice yearly, in June and October.
NZ Police's website says data included in the monthly reports, which are available on the website, are topical indicators of crime and associated police activity.
They did not include total crime because it was "not ideal" as a statistical indicator as it was sensitive to changes in legislation, as new offences were introduced, and because it was too broad to be particularly meaningful.
The indicators include offences reported to police, those discovered or detected by police and the amount of activities by police aimed at reducing crime.
The most recent data compares August this year with August last year.
Across the country, the number of crimes in all categories except drug supply and liquor-ban breaches dropped.
In the Southern police district, the amount of overall police preventive activity in August was 10% less than last August.
Measured activities were bail checks, drunks taken home or to detox, road checkpoints, vehicle stops, foot patrols and police safety orders.
The number of crimes discovered or detected dropped in the categories of drug supply and use, liquor-ban breaches, disorder and assaults on police.
And compared with August 2009, there were 5% fewer serious public-place and dwelling assaults, robberies, burglaries and stolen-vehicle offences reported to police.
The complete set of indicators for each police area is available on www.police.govt.nz
