Crime down 7 percent in FY 2010/11

Increased pressure on criminals and a greater focus on crime prevention has contributed to a further drop in the recorded crime rate, Police Minister Judith Collins said.

Reported crime dropped 7 percent on a per head of population basis during the fiscal year ended 30 June 2011, statistics released today show. This compares to a 1.3 percent drop in the year to 30 June 2010 and a 6.7 percent drop for the 2010 calendar year.

There were 34 murders in FY 2010/11 compared to 65 in the previous year. This is the lowest number of murders in a fiscal year since fiscal year crime statistics began being published in 1986.

There were 416,324 recorded offences during FY 2010/11 compared with 441,960 in the previous year. All Police districts recorded decreases in crime on a population basis with Canterbury showing the biggest decrease at 15.6 percent.

"I am very pleased that levels of recorded crime continue to fall," Ms Collins said.

"These figures show that high levels of crime need not be an accepted fact of life. The fight against crime can be won with a well-resourced, well-trained and dedicated Police service, legislation that sends a strong message to criminals, combined with the support of the community.

"Police have increased pressure on criminals across the board, and stepped up their work with communities to find new ways to prevent crime.

"These strategies are paying off with safer communities. Police are to be congratulated for their outstanding work.

"However, this result does not signal a victory over the criminals. While the decrease is encouraging, our crime rates are still unacceptably high. There will be no let up in the good work done by Police."

Family violence offences dropped from 54,104 in 2009/10 to 52,408 in 2010/11, a decrease of 3.1 percent. The number of Family violence-related murders fell from 35 in 2009/10 to 20 in 2010/11.

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