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English And Collins Mislead On Crime Statistics

Darroch Ball MP

Acting Spokesperson for Police
1 JUNE 2016

English And Collins Mislead On Crime Statistics

The Minister of Finance Bill English’s assertions made on Budget Day that crime has dropped by 16 per cent are misleading and wrong, says New Zealand First.

“The public is being misled by Mr English’s spin because the police are increasingly giving warnings and cautions instead of arresting offenders,” says New Zealand First’s Acting Police Spokesperson Darroch Ball.

“Then today Police Minister Judith Collins claimed in Parliament that the number of incidents police attend don’t necessarily mean a crime has been committed.

“That’s handy isn’t it? Soothe the victims, warn the offenders and low and behold crime and arrest numbers are down.

“They no longer accurately represent just how much crime there is in New Zealand.

“Official statistics New Zealand First has obtained show the percentage of incidents police have attended that end in an arrest has dropped from 16.5 percent in 2007 to 13.15 percent in 2015.

“The total number of incidents that police have attended has gone up from 420,000 in 2008 to 525,000 in 2015 and of those incidents the number of arrests made has dropped from 72,000 to 69,000 in 2015.

“That’s a drop in arrests, not crime. It is a clear increase in the number of incidents and offences that have occurred that police have attended.

“The fact is the government is placing enormous pressure on police not to charge or arrest in order to achieve targets at the expense of accountability and public safety,” Mr Ball says.

ENDS

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