Prime Minister’s Column-Safer communities under National
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2015.04.14 12:07
The National-led Government strongly believes New Zealanders and their families should feel safe in their homes and in their communities. That’s why we’ve been working hard to crack down on crime since we came into government.
This focus on tackling crime is delivering results. For the fifth year in a row, Kiwis are safer in their communities and we have fewer victims of crime. Earlier this month, the 2014 crime statistics were released which showed the crime rate fell 4.2 per cent last year, and there were more than 100,000 fewer crimes last year than in 2009.
The main centres of Auckland and Canterbury saw their crime rates decrease by 5.7 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively, with Waikato recording the largest drop of 9.4 per cent. That’s a great result and something to be proud of. It reflects the hard work of our local Police, as well as the National-led Government’s commitment to tackling crime.
We have worked hard to ensure our frontline Police are able to spend more time on the streets preventing crime and building safer communities.Part of the approach to building safer communities is prevention first; using resources more effectively so Police can spend less time behind a desk and more time out in their communities.
All frontline officers now have smartphones, and most have tablets, which gives them an extra 30 minutes a shift out in their communities to focus on preventing crime. Police are also deploying officers more strategically, in areas and at times when they know there’s a greater risk of crime.
This prevention focus, the 34 Neighbourhood Policing Teams, the 600 more frontline officers, and the huge increase in foot patrols are showing results in New Zealand communities with the continuing drop in crime.
The Government has also set challenging targets to reduce crime and reoffending as part of our commitment to deliver better public services to New Zealanders.Our Police have been working hard on these targets and have played a huge part in helping to keep Kiwi families safer.
