N.Z. INCIDENCE OF CRIME

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27442, 31 August 1954, Page 10

N.Z. INCIDENCE OF CRIME

RECENT STATEMENTS CONTESTED COMPARISON WITH BRITISH FIGURES (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 30. “Is it really a fact that, relative to population, there is more crime in New Zealand than in England and Wales?*’ This question was asked today in a statement by Mr B. L. Dallard, former Under-Secretary of Justice and Controller-General of Prisons, commenting on a booklet issued this month by the Department of Justice. - r . “It has recently been stated that more than one and a half times as many people here are convicted of sexual crimes, but do the official statistics. bear this out?” he continued. “It is true that it is difficult to make comparisons, because the methods of compiling and grouping statistics are not entirely similar. “One significant fact emerges from an examination of the official figures, and that is (no doubt because the smallness of our population facilitates detection) a much highet percentage of offenders is brought to book by the police in New Zealand than in England and Wales. “For example, in 1952, which is the latest year for which statistics are available here, in England and Wales there were 513,559 indictable offences known to the police,” said Mr Dallard. “Of these, 244,132 cases, or 47 per cent, only, were ‘cleared up,’ that is, followed by arrest, prosecution; etc. Of these, 131,049, or 25 per cent, of the total cases reported, were found guilty. In New Zealand, on the other hand, in the same year 42,581 offences of all kinds were reported to the police, and arrest or other proceedings followed in 35,960 that is, 82 per cent, of the total cases reported. “The total number of persons found guilty in England and Wales in 1952 of offences of al] kinds was 753.012. In New Zealand, for the same year. 63.138 persons were found guilty. “Because of the substantially higher percentage of cases being cleared up in New Zealand a comparison of convictions is not a proper criterion of the relative incidence of crime,” Mr Dallard said. Sexual Offences “The Government Statistician in New Zealand, however, has segregated convictions for sexual offences, which enables a comparison to* be made with the figures recorded under the same heading for England and Wales, though the latter figures must considerably understate the true position in view of the smaller percentage of cases cleared up. “In England and Wales in 1952, 14,967 indictable sexual offences were known to the police. In 5001* of these the offenders were found guilty, 2226 being dealt with in the High Courts In New Zealand in the same year 198 persons were convicted in all courts for offences of a sexual nature. If this figure is extended on the basis that the population in England and Wales is 25 times that in New Zealand, it will be seen that, instead of the number of convictions for sexual offences being one and a half times greater in New Zealand, the ratio is actually lower than in England and Wales. “This, of course, is merely a statement of the facts,* * Mr Dallard said. “It gives no ground for complacency, as the position in England and Wales is occasioning the authorities grave anxiety, as it is here at the time.’ ’