Crime statistics released today show that recorded crime in Northland was up by 1.1 percent in the 2013/2014 fiscal year. A total of 15,657 offences were recorded for 2013/2014, compared to 15,490 for 2012/2013.
Northland District Commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou says it is a small increase from the previous year, but it is still a concern to Police that crime has increased as it means we have more victims in our community.
Much of the increase in crime can be attributed to an increase in dishonesty offending such as burglary (up by 26.6 percent), motor vehicle theft (up by 39.6 percent), receiving (up by 43.1 percent) and theft (up by 24.6 percent).
Mr Le Prou says the Crime Reporting Line has made it easier to report historical and non-urgent crimes such as burglary and theft.
“Northland Police recognises that dishonesty offending is a problem for the district and has taken measures to reduce it.
This is a priority for us and we are taking action to reduce burglary and theft. Actions include targeting our top offenders through bail checks, increased visibility of staff in areas with high numbers of burglary and theft, and rostering staff to beat demand."
Mr Le Prou says the District is seeing the benefits from embedding new technology such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and staff receiving instant information regarding crime suspects via their mobility devices.
The District Command Centre is also playing a pivotal role in preventing and reacting to crime and each day looks at all crime across the district and then deploys staff accordingly.
“We are making continuous improvements to the way the DCC operates, which will have a positive impact on reducing crime in our communities.”
Violence offences such as ‘Acts Intended to Cause Injury’, ‘Sexual Assault’, ‘Murder ‘and ‘Abduction, Harassment and Other Related Offences Against a Person’ have all dropped.
Mr Le Prou says while Police are attending more domestic violence incidents, they are seeing less serious violent offending.
“We place a high priority on reducing violent offending in our communities. Violence against another person is not acceptable and we treat these matters with urgency. We also work with our partner agencies to look at ways we can help communities prevent violent offending.”
Mr Le Prou says the focus for Northland Police is prevention.
“Our staff do a great job in working with victims to reduce re-victimisation and to make our communities safe.”
ENDS