Criminal offences dropped by 2.8 % in the 2014 calendar year according to figures released today on the Statistics New Zealand website.
There were 350,389 recorded offences in 2014 compared to 360,411 in 2013. When adjusted for population growth this means criminal offences per head of population dropped by 4.2 %.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Grant Nicholls said that today’s release is the final edition of the Recorded and Resolved Offence Statistics with the new Recorded Crime Victimisation Statistics (RCVS) now in operation.
“The RCVS are a data-set of crime statistics with better and more detailed information about victims,” Mr Nicholls said.
“They provide valuable insight into demographic attributes of victims including the relationship between victim and offender. RCVS also creates a more detailed picture of intimate partner violence, child assaults (physical & sexual) & elder abuse.”
Mr Nicholls said sexual assault and related offences remains a major concern with recorded offences rising 3.5% in the 2014 calendar year.
“We believe that historically sexual violence has been under-reported to authorities,” Mr Nicholls said.
“Police are heartened that victims of this type of crime are coming forward and we want to assure them that police take all complaints of sexual violence seriously.”
“The RCVS is giving us more detailed information about sexual violence and we are using this information to try and prevent and reduce victimisation.”
The RCVS began on 1 July 2014 and the first set of data was released in November 2014. It is now updated at the end of each month on the Statistics New Zealand website.
Mr Nicholls said Police have received positive feedback both internally and externally on the new victim-focused statistics.
“We are continuing to work with Statistics NZ on enhancements to and the functionality of the new statistics. Since the RCVS was first launch we have already added an outcome of investigation filter.”
“This function enables the public to see how many cases have gone before the court, how many have been closed and how many are still ongoing investigations.”
By the end of the financial year, we aim to launch the Recorded Crime Offenders Statistics (RCOS), which will complement the RCVS and will include crimes that do not have a clear victim such as drug offences.
Mr Nicholls said that from the end of July the new statistics will also record the number of unique victims over a 12 month period.
“This will be updated monthly alongside the RCVS and RCOS. While it is too early on to make comparisons, or analyse the data for trends, the RCVS is already providing a more frequent, detailed and complete picture of crime than the current twice yearly crime statistics.”
“In time the RCVS will help Police and our community and government partners further reduce the number of New Zealanders who are victims of crime.”
ENDS
For more information contact Kevin Sinnott on 021 192 2917
Please note under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act which was introduced in December 2013 the penalty for a Breach of Liquor Ban is an infringement notice which is not included in the official crime statistics.
The full 2014 calendar year recorded and resolved offence statistics can be found here http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/crime-statistics-calendar....
You can access the RCVS on the Statistics NZ website here http://www.stats.govt.nz/tools_and_services/nzdotstat/tables-by-subject/recorded-crime-victims.aspx
You can find a background document with more information about the RCVS here www.police.govt.nz/rcvs