Burglaries rise 18 per cent

Press, 27 November 1982, Page 20

Burglaries rise 18 per cent

A loss of more than $llO,OOO from the burglary of electronic gear and cash from an Auckland warehouse and a $137,000 house burglary in Auckland are considered to be among the two largest such crimes in New Zealand according to the “Insurance Bulletin.” Published by the Insurance Council of New Zealand, the bulletin said that these two burglaries, plus a “professional” $58,000 burglary of a Wellington retail jeweller highlighted the steadily rising trend of burglary and tlreft rates in New Zealand. In 1981, stolen property, as recorded by the New Zeanland police, increased $l6 million, or 18 per cent to SIO6M, when compared with the previous year.. This loss resulted from 226.098 reported crimes. The recovery rate of 48.5 per cent was in line with previous years, the bulletin said. Motor vehicle conversion was the largest-category in

the schedule of crimes, where assets of SSIM were involved. The recovery rate was a high 83.6 per cent, and 1055 vehicles were never found, valued at S6M. “On the basis of 90 per cent of tjie vehicles being insured this produced an insurance loss of about $5.4M,” the bulletin said. On motor-cycle thefts 2467 were never recovered. These had a value of SI.6M, and the insurance loss was about SI.3M. Bicycles worth S3M were stolen, with a recovery rate of 36.9 per cent. Insurance underwriters had reported adverse burglary loss rates for both commercial and domestic risks. One insurer paid out S4M in home burglaries in 1981, an increase of 14 per cent. Arson remained a problem, with an increase of 13 per cent to 964 offences during the year, the bulletin said.