Small rise in HB crime

Crime in Hawke’s Bay has risen slightly over the last financial year, with 15,418 offences recorded.

Crimes statistics for the financial year 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 show that Hawke’s Bay had a 1.6 per cent rise in crime. There were 15,171 offences recorded the previous year.

There were drops in several categories including drugs and public order offences, acts intended to cause injury and sex offences. Violence, robbery, burglaries and thefts all increased.

There were three homicides in the area this year, compared to five the year before. Acts intended to cause injury dropped from 1967 to 1904 this year.

Sex offences dropped from 201 last year to 192 this year, while dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons rose from 69 to 87.

There were 623 abduction, harassment and related offences this year compared to 522 last year. Robberies rose from 85 last year to 97 this year.

Burglaries increased from 2271 last year to 2672 this year, while thefts rose from 4520 last year to 4700 this year.

Drug offences dropped from 538 last year to 517 this year and public order offences fell from 1826 last year to 1527 this year.

Hawke’s Bay Area Commander Inspector Tania Kura said higher police visibility on the streets was a major factor in the drop in public order offences and acts intended to cause injury.

“The use of mobile devices has enabled us to work out of the office more and have a greater presence on the street. Public order has featured significantly on our radar and we have put a lot of resource and energy into keeping our streets safe.

“There has been a massive amount of work done by police staff and our partners like Community Patrols and Maori Wardens,” Ms Kura said.

It was also heartening to see a drop in sex offences. Burglary and violence continued to feature prominently in the area.

“Our focus on preventing crime before it happens has proved very worthwhile and we will continue that approach with our problem crime areas. Burglary in particular continues to be a major area of concern for us and we rely heavily on the public to help us with this.

“We urge everyone to call us if they see any person or vehicle acting suspiciously in their neighbourhood – no matter how insignificant it may seem. We would rather be told about something than have to deal with a spate of burglaries that impact so heavily on a community,” Ms Kura said.

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