Northland District Headquarters
88 Cameron Street, Whangärei
Tuesday October 1, 2013

Crimes statistics released today show that recorded crime in Northland was up by 2.3 percent in the 2012/13 fiscal year. A total of 15,490 offences were recorded this year, compared to 15,146 offences last year.

Northland District Commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou says that while there has been an increase in recorded crime, it is a small increase and is lower than 2011 when the district recorded more than 16,000 offences.

Mr Le Prou says although recorded crime has increased slightly, resolution rate has also gone up to 53.9 percent.

One of the offences that led to the increase in recorded crime was sexual assault. This can be attributed to the recent case in which former Pamapuria School deputy principal James Parker pleaded guilty to 74 sexual offence charges representing in excess of 300 offences against young boys.

Parker was sentenced to preventive detention in August.

Mr Le Prou says this case has given people the confidence to come forward and Northland Police has received other complaints of sexual abuse since Parker pleaded guilty.

Assault, harassment and threatening behaviour, and breach of violence or non-violence restraining orders have also all increased.

Mr Le Prou says Police are focusing on holding offenders to account for all forms of violent or threatening behaviour.

"As well as holding the offender to account we work with the victims to help them stop being re-victimised through working with our partner agencies."

"We recently produced, in conjunction with the Northland District Health Board, a DVD that tells the story of Whangärei woman Patricia McGrath who died as the result of violence and the effect it had on her family and friends."

Mr Le Prou says the hope is that this DVD will encourage victims of violence to come forward and also friends and neighbours to report incidents to the police.

Mr Le Prou says alcohol has a significant role in violent offending, both in the home and in public places.

"Home based drinking is a real problem and we are looking at tactics to reduce this problem. We do this by identifying our at-risk families and locations and then working with partner agencies and iwi to reduce the harm caused by alcohol abuse."

Dealing, cultivating and manufacturing illicit drugs has decreased.
Mr Le Prou says the recent Crime and Cannabis Operation in Northland focused on destroying a lot of cannabis plants and focusing on the top-end dealers and growers.

"This meant there were fewer offences recorded, due to fewer arrests. However, destroying more cannabis plants meant we were able to remove more of the harmful drug from our communities. Focusing on the top-end illicit drug offenders also meant we had a bigger impact on disrupting the drug market."

Other offences to decrease included: robbery, down by 27.4 percent; burglary, down by 4.6 percent; and theft, down by 6.1 percent.

ENDS

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