Auckland police launch operation to crack down on burglaries

Police have launched a large scale operation targeting burglary in central Auckland, following Herald revelations that more than 93 per cent of the crimes went unsolved there last year.

Auckland City Police today announced the launch of Operation Resolve, that will assign 20 staff to work specifically on solving burglaries in the district.

The announcement comes after a Herald investigation revealed that only 6.2 per cent of burglaries were solved there in the year to December 31.

The Herald's Hitting Home series revealed that resolution rates for the crimes hit an all-time low last year, with more than 90 per cent of the 65,981 burglaries across New Zealand going unsolved.

Operation Resolve was introduced to improve those rates said Detective Senior Sergeant Iain Chapman, who will lead the initiative from the Mt Wellington station.

"We do take the concerns raised within the [Herald] series very seriously. However, as you know, the series was not specifically about Auckland City District.

"We do not want this spike to continue so have established Operation Resolve to ensure it doesn't."

He said "no stone would be left unturned" to solve more of the crime.

He said while the total volume of burglaries declined by 9 per cent in the district last year, the low resolution rate undoubtedly needed to be addressed.

"We simply have to get better results for victims of these crimes," he said. "We have also seen a spike in burglaries since the beginning of the year which means that burglars are becoming more confident and active in our city so we must stop them."

Mr Chapman said police will use a number of tactics to solve the crimes, including focusing on recidivist burglars and receivers by opposing bail and working closely with staff in neighbouring police districts to nab cross-border offenders.

"Breaking into people's homes and stealing their personal items is one of the most devastating invasions of privacy, it leaves people feeling vulnerable in their own homes and we have a responsibility to do all we can to manage such crimes as effectively and efficiently as possible.

"We have made some good progress in terms of seeing a reduction in the number of burglaries across the city which shows that the prevention work being done by staff is having an impact, however we owe it to victims to get even better results and Operation Resolve will help us do this."

The Auckland City police district runs between Herne Bay to the north, St Heliers to the east, Onehunga to the south and Avondale to the west and includes Waiheke and Great Barrier islands.