Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere: Government working on addressing drivers of crime

Over the past 10 years youth crime has been falling. Photo / Michael Craig

OPINION:

Many of you will have seen media coverage of the recent incident in Downtown where a group of youths allegedly attacked staff and damaged property.

I imagine most people, like I was, were appalled this has happened here in Palmerston North.

Businesses are doing it tough, and it is unfortunate those involved have been targeted. At a time when we should all be supporting our local businesses, this type of attack and behaviour is unacceptable.

In my last column, I outlined a number of measures the Government has announced to tackle crime and gangs, as part of our work to keep Palmerston North and communities across New Zealand safe.

We have already delivered the country's largest ever police service. Our goal is to have an additional 1800 police officers by the end of this year, and we are on track to achieve that. When we reach this goal, we will make sure police numbers don't fall away, instead maintaining an ongoing ratio of one police officer to every 480 Kiwis.

Here in Palmerston North, we have 56 more police officers helping to keep our community safe than we did in 2017. Recently an experienced officer has taken on the role of policing in the central business district – this is another step in the right direction towards providing businesses with additional support.

We are also working on addressing the drivers of crime, reducing offending and stopping young people from becoming gang members, as well as undertaking further work focusing on the youth justice system. Over the past 10 years youth crime has been falling, and offending rates for young people declined by more than 60 per cent, which is good to see.

I meet regularly with our local police, and will continue to do so, to ensure measures are in place to manage and follow up incidents like this one. It is important everyone in Palmerston North is safe and can confidently take advantage of everything our city has to offer.

• Tangi Utikere is the MP for Palmerston North.