Crime falls to fifteen-year low, more work to be done

Police Minister Anne Tolley has praised Police following another significant drop in crime rates. Recorded offences were down for the second successive year, reaching a fifteen-year low in 2011.

Overall, recorded crime was 4.8 per cent lower in 2011, and down 5.6 per cent per head of population with 20,289 fewer offences compared to 2010.

It follows a 5.6 per cent reduction in 2010, or 6.7 per cent per head of population.

In 2011 there were 39 murders, seven fewer than in 2010, and the lowest number since 1995. Drug offences were down 9.8 per cent, fraud was down by 17.6 per cent, weapons offences dropped by 10.1 per cent and damage to property fell by 11.1 per cent.

“These are great results, and mean we have safer communities and far fewer victims of crime,” says Mrs Tolley.

“The Police deserve great credit, with the increased focus and extra officers in frontline policing paying off.

“The vast majority of Police Districts show reductions in offences, but increases in Auckland City and the Waikato highlight the need for more to be done, and we will continue to tackle crime head on.

“The impressive work of the Policing Excellence programme will continue, as the results are clear to see. There is now a much greater emphasis on preventing crime, with Neighbourhood Policing Teams and the use of mobile technology meaning officers can spend more time in their communities.

“There was a rise in recorded sexual assault and related offences, and much of this will be down to better information sharing between Police and other agencies. It’s encouraging that more victims feel confident enough to come forward in an area which had been under-reported in the past.”