Southland Policing Area has continued to achieve positive results with an impressive 8.9% crime reduction for the 2011/12 financial year and a 59.3% resolution rate.
The number of recorded offences dropped from 8,393 in 2011 to 7,648 in 2012.
Southland Area Commander Inspector Lane Todd says the latest crime reductions continue to build on the positive results for the Southland community over the past three years.
The area has now embedded a proactive policing model, and work is well underway in developing and implementing prevention plans to further enhance the gains being made.
Inspector Todd praised the work of his team and key partnerships with Maori wardens, Invercargill Community Patrol and Neighbourhood Support Groups, as significant contributing factors to achieving the positive results for the Southland community. Police are now regularly linking in with government agencies and Southland's City and District Councils to have a much more collaborative approach in reducing and preventing crime.
"The results achieved over the last three years are outstanding and the Police team can quite rightly be very proud. We are absolutely committed to further reducing and preventing crime. With the ongoing partnerships with the Maori wardens, community patrols and Neighbourhood Watch, we are collectively making a tangible difference in making our communities safer," he said.
For the Southland Area, the decrease in crime in 2011/12 means 745 fewer offences which equates to fewer victims and safer communities.
"Keeping reduced licensed premises hours in the Invercargill CBD continues to have a positive impact with an overall reduction of total offending in the CBD, including disorderly behaviour, violence and intentional damage," said Inspector Todd.
Theft and related offences - dropped by 11.4% (2243 down to 1987) while burglary offences also dropped by 10.9% (813 down to 724) from the previous year. These offences account for about 35% of all recorded crime in Southland.
Property damage decreased by 9.3% (1601 down to 1542), and public order offences such as disorderly or offensive conduct increased by 3.5% (938 up to 971). Illicit drug offences decreased by 30% (567 to 397).
Inspector Todd said the proactive policing focus will continue as the national Prevention First strategy gained momentum and the South Invercargill neighbourhood policing team continued to target key risk areas.
"It's all about making our communities safer through prevention and community safety strategies," he said.
Total crime across Southern District is down 11.2 percent, from 24,933 to 22,133 in the year to 30 June 2012. The percentage of crime solved (known as the resolution rate) has also increased from 54.5% in the year to 30 June 2011 to 56% in the year to 30 June 2012.
Superintendent Bob Burns, Southern District Commander, says that the latest further district-wide decrease in crime, the third consecutive decrease, validates the fantastic work Southern staff carry out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on behalf of Southern communities.
"The shift from a more traditional model of policing to a stronger proactive and preventative model has had a major and positive impact on preventing and reducing crime, he says.
"Our intelligence-driven preventative policing model gives us better understanding of who our most active criminals are, what locations attract the most calls for police service and which victims are at greatest risk of re-victimisation. We can act with more urgency, make better deployment decisions, and work with key community partners to address identified drivers of crime to ensure we provide the greatest impact on the criminal environment and make real and sustained reductions in reported crime."
Supt. Burns says the key for Southern is 'sustained' reductions.
"I am particularly pleased that another significant decrease has occurred and, more importantly, all of our three policing areas (Southland, Otago Rural and Dunedin) have contributed to this great overall result."
ENDS