Details of crime statistics called horrific

Press, 4 July 1985, Page 12

Details of crime statistics called horrific

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington Details of the 1984 crime statistics are described by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ken Thompson, as horrific. However, the total increase in reported crimes in 1984 was less than 2 per cent above that for 1983. “Pensioners were raped, robbed and murdered; a man was killed by a suitcase bomb; gang members killed and wounded gang members; women were accosted in the streets and raped in shocking circumstances; and so the list goes on,” Mr Thompson said, in his annual report to Parliament. “The police themselves are far from immune; police stations have been attacked and serious assaults on staff in the field rose 40 per cent during the year.” Part of the response from the police, understandably, had been to call for higher manning levels and for the wider use of protective equipment. By now, the sight of long batons on officers’ hips at night in city streets was far from unusual. “This increasingly ugly picture begs explanations,” Mr Thompson said. Few police officers claimed expertise in the analysis of social and moral decay. Nevertheless, many found it difficult not to measure that decay against

the growing unpopularity of discipline in both schools and the home, and the calls for even more liberal reforms. Most experts pointed to the power of example to mould morality and character, Mr Thompson said. If they were right, those who were set up as models in the news media and cinema were likely to be leading them in the wrong directions. As well as criminals, “real life” society had the spectacle of intolerance and disrespect for others’ views even from those with the strongest moral conviction. Coercion became a tool of protest; and angry, strident, sometimes violent demonstrations and opposition to those demonstrations were now all too frequent, Mr Thompson said. Were those the examples the young should emulate? There seemed little the police could do to influence radically the social environment, and perhaps that was as it should be. Thus he was more than pleased with the recent and spontaneous development within the community of neighbourhood support groups. In less than a year more than 2000 such groups had sprung up throughout New Zealand. For the calendar year 1984, reported offending rose from 409,745 to 415,690, an increase of 1.4 per cent.

The over-all clearance rate by the police was 45.7

per cent, slightly less than the 1983 rate of 46.2 per cent. During 1984 there were 40 murders reported, of which three so far were uncleared. Total reported murders fell 16.7 per cent as against 1983. Offences involving violence increased 4.7 per cent, from 19,969 to 21,114. A distinguishing feature of the violence statistics was the increase in robberies. Aggravated robberies rose 19.7 per cent, from 375 to 449, while non-aggravated robberies rose 59.6 per cent, from 225 to 407. Rape offences increased 18.7 per cent, from 321 to 381; attempted rapes rose 5.4 per cent, from 92 to 97; and indecent assaults rose 46.5 per cent, from 680 to 996. The clearance for rapes has risen from 78.1 to 79.0 per cent, and that of indecent assaults rose from 60.1 to 66.4 per cent. Non-cannabis drug offences rose 26.3 per cent, from 714 to 902. Within this category there were several big increases — production, manufacturing, and distribution of non-cannabis drugs rose 181.2 per cent, from 16 to 45 offences, and the clearance rate rose from 68.7 per cent to 91.1 per cent. Consumption, smoking, and use of non-cannabis drugs rose 113.6 per cent, from 22 to 47, and in total cannabis offences increased greatly from 10,539 to

13,947, an increase of 32.3 per cent. Over-all, dishonesty offences changed little, with an increase of 0.7 per cent. Burglaries declined 1.0 per cent, from 74,213 to 73,537; car conversions rose 5.4 per cent, from 43,787 to 46,184; thefts increased 2.8 per cent, from 112,971 to 116,219; and receiving offences rose 5.5 per cent, from 2686 to 2834. Fraud offences fell 1.7 per cent; false pretences using credit or bank cards fell 9.8 per cent, from 3976 to 3587; credit by fraud offences using credit or bank cards fell 65 per cent, from 574 to 201. During 1984, children aged under 17 were responsible for 25.5 per cent of cleared offences, and 56.9 per cent of all offenders were aged under 20. Of all offenders, 82.9 per cent were male. Property worth $173.36 million was reported stolen to the police during 1984, of which $76.22 million was recovered, a recovery rate of 43.9 per cent. There were 33,073 motor-vehicles reported stolen, worth $78.93 million of which 20,190, worth $62.99 million had been recovered, a recovery rate of 79.8 per cent. The police attended 40,952 burglar alarms, 17,646 domestic disputes, 5605 sudden deaths, 4062 vehicle collisions, 485 attempted suicides, and 67,028 other requests from the public for help.