Editorial: Smash and grab ram-raids challenge community order

Editorial

EDITORIAL

The phrase "daylight robbery" is usually tossed into the air in a fit of anger after someone checks their restaurant or hotel bill and splutters at the cost.

Rather than capturing the feeling of being ripped off, it has become a nasty reality for jewellery stores, in particular in Auckland.

On Saturday afternoon, shoppers in central Auckland saw thieves smash their way into a jewellery store with weapons.

This was an afternoon daylight robbery on Queen St. Shops near the store went into lockdown and an off-duty officer was hit in the head. Two bags of jewellery were recovered with the help of bystanders.

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The seemingly relentless, and high-profile nature of the current crime wave - with shopping centres, jewellery shops, liquor stores and dairies among the targets - gives it a particularly disturbing dimension.

People don't expect to be caught up in violence as they're shopping and enjoying a day out. People staffing shops expect to feel safe doing their normal work. This is crime breaking into everyday routines in a way most people here aren't used to.

The overall picture on crime is nuanced. A crime survey released by the Ministry of Justice found a downward trend in burglaries between 2018 and 2020. An analysis of crime trends in 2021 found they were static.

But in the year to July, the police recorded 436 ram-raids - more than double the previous 12 months. Police said there had been at least 12 smash-and-grabs in Auckland over a six-week period from the end of May to mid-July.

Last month a jewellery store in Botany, Auckland, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in an afternoon theft after hammers were reportedly used by robbers.

Other daylight robberies of jewellery stores have occurred recently at Grey Lynn, Takapuna, Meadowbank, Royal Oak and also in front of shocked shoppers at Lynn Mall, Westgate's NorthWest, and Newmarket's Westfield mall.

Police were alerted to a raid on the Vape2Go outlet at 3.45am yesterday. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Ram raids have been happening with scary regularity, often in the early hours, and some shops have been hit multiple times. Apart from suffering damage, lost income, and stolen items, business owners are having to upgrade security, and pay for repairs and higher insurance premiums. Another six businesses in Auckland had shopfronts smashed and goods stolen early yesterday.

In suburban areas, such attacks have an impact on locals in a community, especially if the shop targeted is a regular haunt such as a cafe, bottle store or dairy.

Crime is a key issue in the Auckland mayoral race with candidates offering various ideas from a safety taskforce, to use of technology and CCTV.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins said last week that there had been 150 arrests and 750 charges laid since February over ram raids.

"Police are focusing significant investigative effort on the recent spike in retail offending, including ram raids, and have a good success rate in holding offenders to account."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday that more than 30 people had been caught since the start of the police retail unit on ram raids and smash and grabs.

The Government introduced a $6 million crime package in May, and also says prevention is key to addressing violent crime. Welfare advocates point to inequality and deprivation as drivers for crime among youths. The current spate of crimes overlaps with the cost-of-living crisis, and the sickness and work disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sudden crime on normal shopping streets, at times people would consider safe to be out and about, will be troubling many Kiwis and feature in everyday conversations.

The heat is on national and local politicians and police to curb grab-and-getaway crime with practical solutions.