The Press TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1966. Criminal Violence

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31151, 30 August 1966, Page 16

The Press TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1966. Criminal Violence

A good deal of evidence has accumulated in recent years to suggest that criminal violence has become more prevalent in New Zealand. Indeed, statistics on various forms of assault reported to the police suggest a sudden and alarming upsurge of violent behaviour. In Britain, the shooting of three policemen earlier this month provoked a demand there for the restoration of capital punishment. That demand has been echoed in New Zealand: and last week prison officers at Paparua called for harsher penalties to deter criminals from violent attacks on police and prison staff—the reintroduction of capital and corporal punishment for crimes which result ir death or injury. Their feelings are doubtless shared by other persons who, in the belief that the community is facing a wave of violence and killing, would recommend the return of the death penalty and flogging. Even without reference to the moral aspects of capital punishment, these feelings are not justified by the evidence on the effect of the death penalty as a deterrent. With the exception of the unusually high number of murder investigations on which the police have been engaged so far this year, the number of murder investigations since the abolition of capital punishment in 1961 has not increased. The significant features of the statistics on the most serious offences against the person, especially murder and attempted murder, are that very few cases remain unsolved and that many files are closed by means other than prosecution. Some of the suspects have committed suicide; others have been judged unfit to plead because of their mental condition. In the last five years the police have investigated 66 reports of murder. Twelve persons have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Crimes of extreme violence have seldom been committed by persons who were of sound mind and capable of a rational assessment of the consequences of their actions. Of one thing the sane murderer may be almost certain; and the police record is the basis of this certainty: he will be caught. The likelihood of a heavier penalty than is now inflicted might, in a few instances, deter persons from violent crime. It would be folly to suppose that this would influence the behaviour of the much greater number of persons who, from a deficiency of self-control because of mental disorder or from an abnormal disregard for the consequences, resort to violence. The threat of punishment does not seem to influence their actions. The police statistics on reported offences against the person must be treated with considerable caution. The recording of reported incidents has become much more rigorous in recent years. The number of prosecutions resulting from these reports has not increased to the same degree. Charges of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing the police have, however, increased by about half in the last five years, and the convictions have increased accordingly. Police and prison officers have every reason to expect adequate protection in their work insofar as the threat of punishment will deter assaults. Because they are already dealing with persons of unruly character, prison officers may well argue that greater penalties are needed for offences against them. But agitation for the restoration of the death penalty and flogging, now discredited in nearly every civilised country, will serve no good purpose.