Southland Police are pleased the fiscal year crime statistics show a 1.2% (124 offences) drop in reported offences. Along with a reduction in the number of victims more reported crime was successfully resolved. A total of 51.1% of reported crime was resolved and this is up 1.3% on the previous year.
Reported violent offending was up 10.4% (106 offences) attributed to a one off incident in Gore that distorted the statistics for this category of offending.
Dwelling burglaries were up 60 offences while the unlawful taking of motor vehicles increased by 34 offences. Four separate groups of offenders were arrested in the latter part of the year and both types of offending have dropped off.
Preventative measures taken to curb destruction of property (-133 offences) were successful in combating the spate of offending experienced around Guy Fawkes in the 2005/06 fiscal year.
The majority of increases in crime occurred in Invercargill with good reductions being achieved in the rural sub-areas. Gore (nearly 250 offences) and Riverton (over 100 offences) achieved good results.
Reported incidents of family violence continue to be of great concern to Police. The appointment of a full-time Family Violence Coordinator has improved the scrutiny of these incidents and led more accountability for the offenders and greater safety for the victims. Inspector Tony O'Neill says that Southland Police are committed to reducing this social problem and are very pleased with the current campaign being run in the Southland Times newspaper.
Full details of the 2006/07 crime statistics are available at www.stats.govt.nz
For further details contact:
Inspector Tony O'Neill
Area Commander: Southland
027 227 2815
1 October 2007
ENDS