Free pass for petty criminals

Sam Tarsem Singh believes the new formal warning policy is a good idea. Photo / Herald on Sunday

First-time offenders caught shoplifting, drunk in public or smoking cannabis are being let off with warnings as part of an ambitious police programme.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad said the programme would reduce crime and prosecution rates. It is based around a formal warning policy for minor offences.

The policy, trialled in the Auckland region for more than a year and now going national, means police have discretion to let offenders off when they are caught committing crimes that carry a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.

Offences such as shoplifting, breaches of liquor bans, possession of cannabis and disorderly behaviour fit the criteria.

For a warning to be issued offenders must also be remorseful for their offending and the victims must consent.

A warning is entered into the police system against a person's name, and a trip to court and potential conviction are avoided. If the offender is caught a second time, the matter is elevated to the courts.

Inspector Bill Searle, district commander for Waitemata - where the initiative was first trialled - said at the time the aim was to unclog the court system and free police resources for more serious crime.

"It was about looking at the lower level, more minor offences, and seeing if we could deal with it in a different way," Searle said. "It was about formalising the discretion and power we already had to hold them to account but not add to the pressure courts and our staff are already under."

Police Minister Judith Collins told the Herald on Sunday the pilot had led to a 9 per cent drop in the number of prosecutions that would previously have been dealt with through the courts.

She said prosecuting minor "irritating" offences wasted an awful lot of police and court time.

"It's a sort of short, sharp resolution, to get through to the offender that the police are not going to put up with silly behaviour or drunken behaviour."

She said a stern warning from police was often what first-time offenders needed to be frightened straight. Dealing swiftly with minor disorder-type offending also prevented escalation to more serious crime, she said.

Other initiatives include:

Rostering more police staff at peak load times and more non-frontline officers to be considered for use during periods of heavy demand.

A "mobility workstream" pilot which will equip officers with more effective, high-tech equipment, such as laptops in cars and PDAs, allowing them to quickly access information about vehicles and their drivers following traffic stops. The trial will be launched in the Southern Districts in May.

Neighbourhood policing teams being trialled in South Auckland will be be rolled out nationally in 2012. They target problem neighbourhoods and known criminals.

Broad said: "In all of this our aim is to achieve a virtuous cycle of fewer victims and offenders, less processing time and greater allocation of our effort to crime and crash prevention."

He predicted by 2015 the programme would result in 4 per cent redeployment of resource into crime prevention, a 13 per cent drop in recorded crime and a 21 per cent reduction in prosecutions.

"The public will see a difference. We will be a police service of which New Zealanders can be proud."

SHOPKEEPERS SUPPORT WARNING POLICY

Despite being targeted regularly by shoplifters, retailers say a formal warning for first time offenders is a good idea.

Sam Tarsem Singh, of City Convenience store in central Auckland, said shoplifters often tried all sorts of devious methods in his shop.

"They bring empty bags and put the stuff in. Sometimes if we look busy they will take advantage."

Asked what he thought of a police pilot programme in which minor first-time offenders will be let off with a formal warning, he said: "I think it's good for the first time, but the second time they must get punished."

Since the pilot - called Alternate Resolutions - was launched in the Auckland region more than a year ago, more shoplifters had been let off than any other offenders. Breaches of liquor bans were the next most excused.

South Auckland Dollar Dealer manager Heemi Templeton said his store had been a victim to theft. Many of the shoplifters were opportunistic offenders who had fallen on hard times and would benefit from a warning.

Victim Support chief executive Tony Paine said his organisation supported the initiative. "One of the things that it's doing is freeing up the courts to deal with more serious crimes. Some victims are waiting 12 to 18 months for a case to go trial."

He was also pleased victims would be asked before police let offenders off with warnings. "In the case of a guy caught with cannabis in his pocket, there's really only one victim: the guy with the cannabis in his pocket."

Former Green MP and campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis Nandor Tanczos said he supported the initiative because it would protect young people who were "being stupid" from carrying a conviction for the rest of their lives.