Counting Crime: An in-depth look at offending and victims in New Zealand

Counting Crime is an exclusive Herald series that reveals where and when crimes are committed - and who the victims are. Each day this week we'll investigate a different category of offending.

Have you ever wanted to know how safe your street really is?

An exclusive interactive map created by the Herald's award-winning team of data journalists will tell you.

It will let you check what crimes have been committed and reveal the days and times when offences are most likely to occur.

Counting Crime: check out your neighbourhood at Herald Insights here.

The map is the centrepiece of a week of content that provides the most in-depth look at New Zealand's crime statistics ever.

You're most likely to be burgled on a Monday, have your car stolen on a Friday or broken into on a Saturday and the majority of retail thefts - everything from shoplifting to staff pinching stock or cash - happen on a Monday.

More than 400,000 New Zealanders became victims of crime between July 2014 and December last year.

They were burgled, broken into, robbed, assaulted, kidnapped, sexually abused - and that's just the offences reported to police.

Herald data editor Harkanwal Singh has crunched police information to meshblock level - a small geographic area based on Census boundaries - and this can be viewed on Herald Insights.

Singh's analysis reveals trends and patterns crime classification - all for your area.

For example, in the Ashburton district, more reported crimes happen on Sunday than on any other day. Criminals are most active at 3pm and the crime most often reported is burglary. Vehicles are most often pinched on Tuesdays and Fridays and the majority of reported retail thefts happen on Thursdays.

We can also reveal that the most abductions were reported in Auckland's Mangere South, the most aggravated robberies in Auckland central west, the most common assaults in Wellington's Willis St area, the most retail crime in Nelson Park and the most cars stolen in Roslyn, Dunedin. The most burglaries were reported in Auckland's Mt Wellington neighbourhood.

According to police, total reported crime decreased by 15 per cent over the five years to the end of 2016.

But it tracked slightly upward in the last year of that period meaning there were 844 crimes reported for every 10,000 Kiwis.

Our analysis goes deeper and shows exactly how crimes have tracked since July 2014 when police began recording by victimisation rather than offence.

We can reveal that from July 2014 to December 2016, 414,577 people reported being victims of crime.

The most reported crimes were, in order, unlawful entry or burglary, theft, retail theft, thefts from vehicles, illegal use of motor vehicles and common assault.

The most common day of the week crimes were reported was Saturday, followed by Sunday, Friday and Monday.

And the most common hour of the week for criminals to act was 3pm followed closely by 2pm and noon - generally when people are most likely to be out and about.

We can also reveal that burglaries have increased steadily during the two-and-a-half year reporting period but thefts of vehicles has decreased.

Retail crime, which costs the country more than $1.2 billion a year, were rising steadily until late last year then dropped significantly.

And car break ins - where property was taken but the vehicle was not - rose sharply in mid-2015, then dropped again. And, apart from a spike in the middle of last year, is continually declining.

This week the Herald will speak to victims of crime - people who have been targeted by thieves, violent offenders and seasoned offenders and are now living with fear, frustration and long-lasting effects.

If you have a story about crime in New Zealand and how it has affected you that you would like to share please contact us.

Herald Insights uses data as a source for stories rather than anecdotes to help people understand the numbers driving the news.

Stories are told through text, interactive graphics and maps, giving readers the ability to dig deep into data that matters to New Zealanders.

Statistics are sourced from the Police national data page and are for July 2014 to December 2016 with an outcome of investigation of 30 days.​