Saturday, 02 December 2023
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDRIVEN Car GuideThe CountryPhoto SalesiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub
Voyager 2023 media awards
Subscribe

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand / Crime

The Front Page: After three random attacks, are New Zealand's streets becoming more violent?

Damien Venuto
By
Damien Venuto
28 Jun, 2022 05:00 PM3 mins to read
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail
A person was arrested following the reported mass stabbing on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Daniel Camus

A person was arrested following the reported mass stabbing on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Daniel Camus

A spate of three random attacks in the last month has further raised concerns about the safety of New Zealand's streets.

The stabbing incidents in Auckland and Christchurch in the last week followed an earlier incident in Mt Albert.

New Zealand Herald senior reporter Kurt Bayer tells the Front Page podcast that there's a growing perception across the country that violent crime is on the rise.

"These are separate incidents, but they do feel eerily similar," says Bayer.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

"These are random knife attacks on strangers going about their daily lives in broad daylight. And if you go back a month, there have actually been three serious, seemingly random, stabbing events. We also had the stabbing of Thomas Coombes on a Mount Albert walkway on May 24."

Full details on the attacks remain unclear at this stage, but Bayer notes that mental health concerns were cited in the two most recent attacks.

"We need to let the court process run its course and suppression orders often mean that we can't reveal everything that we know," says Bayer.

Given the sheer randomness and awfulness of these events, they have attracted substantial media attention.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

This is ultimately feeding into the perception that New Zealand's streets are not as safe as they once were.

But is this growing perception actually reflected in the police data? Are violent incidents on the rise, or are we just paying more attention to them?

"The police data doesn't encompass whether attacks are random or not, but we can say at the moment there are high levels of violent crime," explains Bayer.

"If we look at Auckland over the last few months, we've seen gang violence and drive-by shootings. It's only by the grace of God that there hasn't been an innocent person killed.

Related articles

New Zealand

Influx of winter illness with second Covid-19 wave on the horizon

28 Jun 05:00 PM

"You can couple that with ram raids, which are not violent in the sense of using knives or guns, but are still violent – especially to the business community."

Bayer says that the Prime Minister's decision to strip Member of Parliament Poto Williams of the Police portfolio shows there is growing concern about the level of crime in New Zealand at the moment.

"Mr Fix-It Chris Hipkins is now coming in to try and shore things up on the Police front."

Bayer says that police officers that he has spoken to have identified a simmering sense of anger and frustration in their recent encounters with people on the streets. Bayer says there's growing concern that this might be attributable to the impact of the pandemic on society.

"Even as journalists, we've seen that and experienced that ourselves," says Bayer.

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price. Photo / Kurt Bayer
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price. Photo / Kurt Bayer

"There are emotional and mental struggles out there – a lot of which have been borne out by the Covid-19 pandemic and the stresses and the pressures that brought. There's frustration and anger out there. And I don't know whether many people know where to direct that."

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Bayer says that he can't predict how long this will continue but hopes it doesn't endure.

"I hope we're just in an unlucky spate of crime at the moment," he says.

"I wouldn't like to be reporting on these things too often."

•

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.

• You can follow the podcast at nzherald.co.nz, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|Crime

Watch: One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

New Zealand

Tributes flow for 'beautiful' students killed in roadworks crash

02 Dec 12:22 AM
New Zealand

'She died in my arms': Tangiwai survivor recalls 'scene from hell'

01 Dec 11:49 PM
New Zealand|CrimeUpdated

One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

01 Dec 11:37 PM

Top toys of 2023 for kids & ‘kidults’

sponsored

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Watch: One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

Watch: One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

Emergency services responded to the scene in Manukau City. Video / Dean Purcell

Tributes flow for 'beautiful' students killed in roadworks crash

Tributes flow for 'beautiful' students killed in roadworks crash

02 Dec 12:22 AM
'She died in my arms': Tangiwai survivor recalls 'scene from hell'

'She died in my arms': Tangiwai survivor recalls 'scene from hell'

01 Dec 11:49 PM
One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

One person critically injured after South Auckland robbery

01 Dec 11:37 PM
Toy trends for Christmas
sponsored

Toy trends for Christmas

About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2023 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP