THE PRESS THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1987. Catching the criminals

Press, 5 March 1987, Page 20

THE PRESS THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1987. Catching the criminals

The Christchurch criminal fraternity might take some satisfaction from the latest crime statistics that show they have an almost two-to-one chance of avoiding detection for offences committed in the city; the rest of the community is likely to greet the news with a mixture of alarm and despair. The percentage of reported crimes in Christchurch that the police have been able to file under "Case closed” dropped further last year, from 40 per cent to 37.7 per cent. More and more crime, particularly less serious offences — under which are grouped burglaries, petty theft, and so on — is being reported simply for insurance purposes and not with any real expectation that the police will be able to spare staff or time to investigate.

Of the more than 10,000 burglaries reported in Christchurch last year, fewer than 1800 were considered by the police to be satisfactorily cleared. The most immediate concern for the community is that the relative security from detection and punishment encourages repetition. Under a penal policy that actively discourages removing convicted criminals from the community, except as a last resort, burglars and thieves are less likely to be physically restrained from their activities. The incidence of this type of crime might be expected to rise. Because the risk of being brought to book for these offences is apparently diminishing all the time, there is even less chance that the criminal will pause to weigh possible consequences.

A large slice of police time and effort last year was taken up by the detection of “homebake” laboratories used for the manufacture of illegal drugs. This limited the time detectives could devote to, say, burglary inquiries, but brought its own results. The number of drug offences, not relating to cannabis, dealt with by the Christchurch

police last year jumped by 110 per cent to 292; and convictions were obtained in all but 14 of them. The community would have to be pleased with these results in an area of criminal activity that causes widespread concern.

It is also a fair bet that some of those unsolved burglaries could have been laid at the door of people convicted for other offences, if only the police had the time and staff to ferret out the connection. The number of unresolved cases, therefore, is an untidy result for the year, but does not necessarily mean that large numbers of housebreakers are having it all their own way. The police would argue that, to the contrary, few burglars go undetected for long, and that the burglary figures are inflated by those who reoffend while on bail or soon after granted some leniency by the courts. If the courts, in the administration of the Government’s policy, are indeed setting burglars loose on the community as fast as the police wheel them in, it is small wonder the police think it is better to concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

The chronic shortage of police officers is also held responsible for the drop in the Christchurch clearance rate, though lack of staff is not confined to Christchurch; and it does not wholly explain Christchurch’s unenviable position at the bottom of the clearance list. A significant improvement is necessary and can be expected now that the police have been able, at their own request, to shed the responsibility of responding to alarm calls, many of which are caused by malfunctioning alarm installations. Last year, the Christchurch police responded to 9726 burglar alarm call-outs, and each was estimated by the police to tie up a patrol car and officers for an average of an hour. The saving in time and manpower should mean an improvement in the detection and prosecution of criminals.