Despite advances in many areas of policing, the Southern district is not immune to the crime patterns facing the nation, the district’s top officer says.
The latest crime statistics reveal the Southern district has experienced drops in the number of assaults, sexual assaults, burglaries and thefts reported to police during the past financial year.
However, robbery — like elsewhere in New Zealand — is on the rise.
"We aren’t immune to the national trend," Southern district commander Superintendent Paul Basham said.
"The increase here is relatively small.
"The kind of people that commit these offences, about 40% to 50% of them are youth.
"Overwhelmingly, they come from a family where there has been dysfunction, often family violence.
"There’s an opportunity to intervene into these homes earlier and do something more sophisticated around the kind of environments these families are operating under."
Southern police had taken steps in that regard and were working with social agencies to target youth offending, particularly in Maori homes.
"We are motivated to get into this space around early intervention and social investment," he said.
"In 2017, we are ... asking ‘Why is that 16 or 17-year-old committing that robbery’.
"There’s often issues underlying that behaviour and we are deeply motivated about understanding that and, with social agencies, trying to change that."
He praised the work of Southern police and credited officers with reductions in other areas of violent offending and theft.
"Any reduction in total victimisations is a good thing and we have had a good year across the whole district," Supt Basham said.
One area of concern was a rise in drug offenders put before the courts and in methamphetamine in Southern communities.
"We are seeing more and more of that and I’d say these robberies are likely to be a symptom of that. But it’s not just methamphetamine driving that, but a bigger issue around alcohol and tobacco addiction."
Officers had good results, with arrests, in about 50% of the aggravated robberies in recent months.
The Southern district remained the safest district in New Zealand "by a country mile".
"We are pleased with the progress we have made in the last financial year, but we are certainly not resting on our laurels."
