Anneke
Smith, Political Reporter
Morning
Report
The coalition says its tough on
crime approach is working as a new survey reports 38,000
fewer victims of serious violent crime.
The figure is
close to double the government’s target of 20,000 fewer
victims of assault, robbery or sexual assault each year by
2029.
The Justice Ministry’s latest Crime and Victims
Survey has reported 147,000 victims of serious crime in the
12 months to August.
That’s 38,000 fewer than the last
year, and 9000 fewer than the last update in May.
The
government banned gang patches in public places and gave
police more powers to disrupt gatherings this time last
year.
Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Corrie
Parnell told Morning Report the gang legislation had
provided police with a significant tool “to make an impact
and disrupt the gangs”.
The gang legislation has had
an impact on serious violence in public places contributing
to the 38,000 fewer victims of serious violence as of August
this year, he said.
“It’s that broader feeling of
safety and context for communities, so if you think of the
number of gang funerals for example, we’ve got a quite high
presence there now with police, early engagement with gangs
and basically shifting the dial on what is acceptable in
communities.”
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Gangs play a key part in organised crime
both in New Zealand and trans nationally, he
said.
“The ability to attack it from multiple angles,
not just the Gang Act legislation, we’ve also had the
criminal activity intervention legislation which gives us
that ability when you know gangs are in conflict in our
communities to actually make meaningful search and seizure
there.”
There were about 10,000 gang members on the
police national gang list as of November this year, he
said.
“There’s still work to be done but the suite of
legislative powers that police are able to use now are far
more advanced than we’ve previously had.”
Work such as
strengthening New Zealand’s borders was still in the area of
trans national organised crime, “the organised crime linkage
back through to gangs and offshore”, he said.
Quick
statistics since the Gangs Act (2024) came into
effect:
- 182 patches seized
- 643 insignia
items seized - 178 firearms seized
- 856 charges
for Prohibited Display of Gang Insignia in Public
Place - 255 finalised charges, 188
convictions.
Justice Minster Paul Goldsmith said
decreasing victim numbers showed the coalition’s tough
approach to law and order was working.
“That’s 38,000
families and individuals that don’t have to go through the
trauma and horror of violent crime, so it’s good,” Goldsmith
said.
“We’ve made good progress but obviously there’s
still a long way to go.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell
said he made no apologies for getting tough on law and
order.
“One year ago, gangs were confronted with a new
harsh reality – one where they can no longer behave as if
they’re above the law by taking over our streets,
intimidating the public, and making a mockery of our
criminal justice system,” he said.
“This is tough
legislation. That is the point. Gang members make up less
than one quarter of one percent of the New Zealand adult
population, yet are linked to about 18 percent of serious
violent crime.”
“The few examples where patches have
been returned to gang members is not at all representative
of just how successful these laws have been. The numbers
speak for themselves.”
Goldsmith said the changes to
gang laws were part of a broader crime strategy.
“The
most important thing about the gang patch ban is that it has
greatly reduced the intimidation and presence of gang
members in public.
“There was a sense of them taking
over some parts of the country, some small towns, and a
sense of their presence was concerning to many New
Zealanders.
“So, that’s helped on that front but the
gang patch is one part of many different tools we’ve given
the police to deal with gangs, which is also one part of a
broader strategy, which is about restoring consequences for
crime and holding people to account.”
He said victim
numbers were still too high for his liking.
“I’m
extremely mindful that we still have far too many New
Zealanders being a victim of crime so we want to keep going
much further and keep driving that level of crime down so
that New Zealanders feel safe in their
communities.”
Asked if it was time to set a new
target, Goldsmith said it might be something he considered
in the New
Year.
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