Andrew Little
Leader of the Opposition

31 October 2016

Crime rise, blame it on National’s underfunding

Labour’s policy of a thousand extra police is vindicated given the staggering overall 5.5 per cent increase in all crime, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little.

“The latest statistics for the past year show that burglaries are up by nearly 18 per cent. That means 10,977 more burglaries.

“Robberies and assaults have also seen a huge rise with robberies up over 13 per cent and assaults up nine per cent.

“Around the country some of the worst figures are in Counties Manukau which sees assaults up 27 per cent and central Auckland where sexual assaults have increased by over 24 per cent.

“Canterbury robberies are up by a shocking 54 per cent. And in Tasman robberies are up by over a third.
“Burglaries are up throughout the country with every single police district showing an increase in reported offences.

“These figures are a disturbing reminder of National’s chronic underfunding of the police budget.

“Judith Collins can no longer underfund and under-resource policing. We are now in a crisis.

“Labour will deliver a thousand more police in our first term to crack down on crimes and make our communities safer,” says Andrew Little.

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