Venu Menon
Wellington, May 9, 2023
The House witnessed Minister of Police Ginny Andersen being put in the dock by the Opposition over the 33% increase in violent crime, and asked whether that made New Zealanders feel safer?
The minister said communities were safe in three main areas: firstly, there were 1800 additional police officers deployed on the streets; secondly, by focusing on retail crime by delivering fog cannons and extra security measures, and, thirdly, by “addressing youth offending with specific programmes in those areas to make sure we address the underlying drivers of crime.”
But National’s Mark Mitchell followed up by asking if the 1800 police “are making Kiwi’s feel safer?”
Minister Andersen found it odd that the National member appeared “to be suggesting that New Zealanders feel safer with fewer members of the police on the front line.”
Mitchell asked rhetorically if the minister thought “a 551% increase in ram raids makes shopkeepers and their employees feel safer?”
The minister replied: “One ram raid more is always one ram raid too much.”
She said she would continue to work by resourcing the front-line police adequately, “by making sure the retail crime prevention scheme is focused on making sure those measures are in place.”
Andersen said the government was backing up the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) scheme which enabled retail providers to have easy access to fog cannons and other protective measures.
To the National member’s pointed reference to a 61% increase in gang membership, the minister said 1800 additional front-line police officers also included 700 police officers specifically dedicated to organised crime, adding, “Which means operations like Cobalt can continue to deliver outcomes like 35,000 charges specific to gang members and organised crime.” She said those outcomes were far greater than “any achieved under previous governments.”
Mitchell then asked Andersen if ram raids had “increased or decreased since she became police minister?”
The minister replied: “Ram raids increased into August last year and they peaked at 119. That has continued to track down.”
Earlier, in response to a query by ACT Leader David Seymour on the apprehension rate of offenders in retail burglaries, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the work done by police in recent years to “ make it easier for retailers to report retail crime, including shop lifting, does mean that police have a fuller picture now of the true extent of that activity.”
With reference to ram raids, Hipkins said: “If you look across 1100 such offences since the beginning of last year, there have been just under 700 prosecutions, just under 300 youth referrals, and there are around 200 that remain under active investigation. I think police have been doing very good work in following up on that offending and ensuring that those who have been doing it face the consequences for their actions.”
Seymour then pointed to data that showed that “there were more than 3,000 aggravated robberies but only 1300 proceedings taken against offenders last year.”
But Hipkins argued that “whether or not a proceeding takes place does not necessarily provide the full picture of the response from police.”
Hipkins added: “I do want to note that, under this government, we have nearly got there – 1800 extra police on the beat. And I note that the ACT Party voted against the funding to deliver that.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington.
