Whanganui police are working to turn the tables on a 6 per cent increase in "serious victimisation" crime in the last six months of 2019.
Area commander Inspector Nigel Allan says victimisation crime rates were up a total of 8.5 per cent across his region - which includes Whanganui, Ruapehu and Rangitīkei - in the July-December 2019 period.
There were 2538 victimisations recorded, compared with 2339 for the same period the previous year. Of these, 1146 were categorised as "serious victimisations" (1081 for the previous period).
The victimisation data, which is based on an international reporting system, does not include homicides or crimes, such as cultivation of cannabis, where there is no direct victim. It includes serious and common assaults, sexual assault and related offences, abduction and kidnapping, robbery and extortion, burglary and unlawful entry, theft and related offences. The data records the number of victims of a crime rather than the number of offences.
"In the last six months of last year there's an increase in victimisations over the previous year," Allan said.
"It comes against a backdrop of several years prior that have been stable or reducing.
"That had been a relatively good few years for us."
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Advertise with NZME.There were no particular locations or suburbs where victimisation crime was more prevalent, Allan said.
The biggest factor contributing to the 6 per cent increase in serious victimisations was burglaries of residential properties where items were stolen from the premises, such as from a driveway, garden or porch, but the house was not entered, Allan said.
The data recorded 143 stolen vehicles in July-December compared with 157 the previous period, a reduction of 8.9 per cent. However, in early 2020 there had been an increase in theft of vehicles and property from vehicles, Allan said.
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The victimisation figures also reflected an increase in the number of family-harm assaults.
Allan says there is an increased rate of reporting of family harm episodes across the Whanganui policing area and across the country.
"There's a strong indication that this is a result of more episodes being reported to police rather than an increase in episodes happening," he said.
"Whanganui police, iwi and the community have been working to co-design a community response to family harm.
"From a police perspective, we have increased resourcing to enable us to work with whānau. We've gone from, historically, two to nine police staff and three iwi contracted positions.
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Advertise with NZME."We've had a really significant increase in staffing numbers in the last 12 months across the area and it's enabled us to invest resource in family harm, investigations, prevention and response.
"We're working toward getting in front of this [increase in victimisation crime]."
The Whanganui area has received 44 new recruits as part of the Government's policy to train more police staff.
With only 30 frontline positions available, the recruits are moving through and gaining experience in other aspects of policing, such as CIB, family harm and tactics, earlier than usual in their careers, Allan said.
