Crime continues decline in South

Reported crime in the Southern district fell 5% in the past year, continuing a downward trend. 

"It is pleasing to see this sustained reduction," District Commander Superintendent Andrew Coster said.

"This is due, in no small part, to the hard work and professionalism of our own police staff and our partner agencies that are absolutely committed to making our communities safer."

Superintendent Coster said he was proud of the police staff who contributed to the ongoing success of the district and added the district was going from strength to strength in terms of the progress being made to keep the community safe.

"As well as our police work we have some fantastic partnerships with our community and other agencies that make a significant contribution to the gains we've been making and will continue to make."

Nationally, recorded crime dropped by 3.2% in the past year.

There were almost 12,000 fewer crimes recorded nationwide in the 2013/14 financial year than in the previous financial year.

According to the national police statistics, released this morning, violent assault crimes were but burglaries and stolen car crime was up.

There were 2091 robberies recorded this year, up from 1990 last year.

The number of stolen cars jumped as well, with 20,206 vehicles reported stolen in the 12-month period.

There were 2214 more cars stolen nationally, up 12.3% on the previous year.

In Northland there was an increase of almost 31% in theft and related offences.

Following six years of rising sexual assaults in New Zealand, the trend was stemmed marginally in the most recent police figures.

There were 3629 recorded sexual assaults, which was just 22 fewer than last year. However, it was the first time in six years there wasn't an increase.

In Waikato there was a 32.1% jump in sexual assaults and related offending, with almost 100 more cases investigated than the previous period.

The resolution rate in Waikato also dropped, from 50.8% of sexual assault crimes resolved to just 43%.

The sexual assault rate in New Zealand has been steadily rising since about 2003.

Nationally, there were 42 murders recorded in the 2013/14 period, which was down from 47 the previous year.

And there were 39,416 assaults, a 3 per cent reduction on the 2012/13 figures.

Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls said the drop in recorded crime was a positive trend.

"Since the 2008/2009 fiscal year we have seen a 20% drop in recorded criminal offences this means there are far fewer victims of crime than there were five years ago.

"These results are a credit to our staff. We are focused on reducing victimisation so New Zealanders feel safer in their homes and safer in their communities.''

- by ODT/Sam Boyer of The New Zealand Herald 

Add a Comment