Crime in Auckland City Police District is down by 16.8 percent on the 2011/2012 fiscal year and, at 45,244 total offences, the District recorded the lowest number of crimes since electronic records began in 1995.
Put another way, Auckland City recorded 9,107 fewer offences in the district than in the previous year meaning there are thousands fewer victims than would normally be the case.
District Commander, Superintendent Mike Clement, says the impressive result has come about through the hard work, dedication and focus of all staff in the district.
"For the past 18 months or more we have had a vigorous focus on preventing crime and particularly all aspects of property crime as part of our efforts to achieve the national Police commitment of a 13 percent reduction in total crime.
"Consequently, theft and related offences (including theft of and from motor vehicles) is down by more than 19 percent on the 2011/2012 year, while burglary and break and enter-type offences are down by a whopping 22.8 percent.
"In those two categories alone there were 6,726 fewer recorded crimes than in the previous year."
However he said that, even with such a substantial reduction, property crime still accounts for nearly two thirds of total crime, much of which has been shown to be preventable if people take responsibility for security of small and portable personal items in parked cars, bars and cafes.
"We have also been very focused on effective deployment of resources to prevent crime or detect it and offenders early to ensure they are effectively put out of business before they can cause more misery and frustration," Mr Clement said.
"It's also encouraging that the number of serious assaults resulting in injury has trended downwards since 2008/09 to this year's figure of 691 offences but it is a concern that the number of public place assaults has gone up by 20 to 1,377 and we'll be looking more closely at those."
In summary, Mr Clement said that by having a district-wide focus on priorities, being able to effectively deploy staff to target known offenders, victims and locations, by maintaining valuable community and partner relationships with the likes of Neighbourhood Support, Community Patrols, Maori Wardens, Asian and Pacific Safety Patrols and by enabling staff to work more effectively through the proper distribution of resources and tools that have translated into more time on the street, higher visibility and less reliance on buildings, the results were achieved.
ENDS