New police statistics confirm one of Queenstown’s main crime issues is drunken assaults.
A quarter of all crimes involving victims in the Queenstown Lakes district over the past two years were assaults.
Of the 1827 crimes with victims since November 2014, some 457 were violent attacks.
Sixty-five were serious assaults in which someone was injured.Another 66 were serious assaults not resulting in injury and 326 were common assaults.
The majority were in Queenstown itself, particularly downtown. Only 53 of the total were in Wanaka.
Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, said assaults were high proportionally because the district had less general crime, such as burglaries.
"That said, obviously it’s of concern to us any time there’s an offence," Snr Sgt Fookes said.
"With assaults, alcohol is almost always a feature."
Snr Sgt Fookes said the majority occurred late at night or in the early hours.
"A good way of saying it is if you’re not affected by alcohol, your chances of being assaulted or assaulting someone are actually very, very low."
The statistics, available through New Zealand Police’s new online data tool, do, however, show the Queenstown Lakes district is a remarkably safe place to live.
The 457 people who were victims of assault represent about 0.01% of the more than 4 million visitors and residents over the two years.
There have been few robberies — nine in two years.Two people were the victim of blackmail or extortion.
In total, 124 people had someone illegally use their motor vehicle (joy riding, taking without consent).
The statistics do not show many motoring offences, such as drink-driving, drug offences, or other crimes without identifiable victims.
There were, however, 11 victims of aggravated sexual assault and 11 victims of non-aggravated sexual assault.
Thefts represent the majority of crimes with victims — some 947 — while there were also 229 burglaries or attempted burglaries.Snr Sgt Fookes said Queenstown was generally a safe place to live but intoxication was an issue.
Efforts to educate the public were stymied by the short amount of time people spent in the resort.
"But what we can do is work with those involved in the sale and supply [of alcohol]."
The police regularly visit bars to check levels of intoxication and run education campaigns such as ‘Don’t be that guy’.
