Crime rate down says Police Commissioner

12.00pm UPDATE

Reported crime dropped by 4.7 per cent in the year to June, while the rate of resolved crime increased from 43.7 per cent to 45.1 per cent, Police Commissioner Rob Robinson said today.

Statistics released today showed a drop in the crime rate of 6.5 per cent per 10,000 people, he said in a statement.

It was a struggle to find anything negative in the figures, which came on top of a downward trend for several years.

The resolution rate was the highest in 20 years, Mr Robinson said.

Perhaps the most pleasing result had been in Counties Manukau, which recorded the largest drop in overall crime of 16.5 per cent, followed by Central (Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Wanganui and rural areas) with 12.8 per cent, Auckland City 11.8 per cent and North Shore Waitakere with 5.3 per cent.

"The three Auckland district results reflect a major turnaround in the battle against crime in the most populated region in the country," he said.

Dishonesty offences were down 6.7 per cent, largely due to a reduction in offences of car conversion and theft, and fraud. While the number of dwelling burglaries was up slightly, the overall burglary rate per 10,000 people was down 2.2 per cent, continuing a downward trend.

Recorded sexual offences dropped 4 per cent, while recorded violence dropped 1 per cent, halting a run of violent offending increases during the previous three years, Mr Robinson said.

The 46 murders recorded during the year were the lowest number since 1998 and compared to 57 the year before.

"While these are significant events, New Zealand is fortunate these numbers are as small as they are," the statement said.

An apparent increase in drugs and antisocial offences of 2.9 per cent was the result of reclassification of liquor ban breaches. Adjusting for that, drugs and antisocial offences were down 6 per cent.

Slightly more than 5000 liquor ban breaches were recorded, reflecting significant use of liquor bans by local authorities.

Non-cannabis drug offences increased from 3088 to 3978, an increase of 28.8 per cent, driven by the increased manufacture, use and policing of amphetamine type substances including methamphetamines.

During the year, 190 clandestine laboratories had been closed down.

Total burglary numbers dropped from 60,816 to 60,630, but burglary from dwellings was up slightly from 37,736 to 38,619 -- growth roughly comparable to population growth, Mr Robinson said.

Despite predictions to the contrary, speed camera infringements dropped 2 per cent in the year.

"This indicates an encouraging and increasing level of compliance with the speed limits," he said.

Road policing represented 21 per cent of police services, and during the 2003/04 financial year 447 people died on the roads.

"Speeding still remains one of the most common factors in fatal and serious injury road crashes and underpins the police focus on reducing speeding on our roads," Mr Robinson said.

Vehicle safety officers inspected 9836 commercial vehicles and found mechanical fault with 42.9 per cent of them, resulting in 1979 defective vehicles being ordered off the road.

"There will be a continuing emphasis on the policing of the heavy motor vehicle fleet to ensure these vehicles are operated in safe condition to enhance safety for all road users."

Mr Robinson thanked police who, he said, had worked hard in the past year often under trying circumstances.

"At the time of the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct earlier in the year I suggested to staff that the best way we could maintain public confidence in our organisation at this time was through day to day actions," he said.

Figures showed recorded crime down in 10 out of 12 districts, while the two where it was up - Wellington and Tasman - had recorded increases of under 2 per cent.

"I know that the district commanders for both those districts are very disappointed with their results and have strived particularly hard over the last six months of the year to successfully turn around less than desirable first half results."

Methamphetamine remained a scourge on society, Mr Robinson said.

Police were already learning more about links between drugs such as the methamphetamine P and offending patterns.

A small scale pilot of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) scheme carried out in Counties Manukau in May and June found that alcohol, cannabis and amphetamine/meth were the drug types people arrested reported using most often just before arrest.

They were also the drugs most often reported as contributing to the activities people were arrested for.

ADAM would be rolled out nationally as a research programme in late 2004. It would contribute to the development of policies and practices to tackle underlying causes of a significant number of criminal and road policing offences.

Police Minister George Hawkins said the statistics released today showed 1053.7 recorded offences for every 10,000 people, which was the lowest rate since 1983.

The figures showed an average of 403 fewer victims of recorded crime each week compared with the year before, he said in a statement.

"This is simply a stunning result."

The results reflected a supportive Government prepared to ensure staff had the resources to do their job, Mr Hawkins said.

The police budget of more than $1 billion a year was at its highest level ever. Police numbers at 9737 - 7450 sworn officers and 2287 non-sworn staff - were also the highest ever.

NZ police: crime statistics


- NZPA