Violence increases

Press, 10 March 1988, Page 3

Violence increases

Reported violent crime increased 9.7 per cent and sexiial attacks rcise 21.5 per cent last year |

The Commissioner of Police, ■' Mr Malcolm Churches, said ‘‘violent crime remains a serious problem and is c ne which still needs to be faced up to by the commmity.” He welcomed the overall drop in repor ed crime of 0.4 per cent, the first national decrease for a January-Decemb jr period .since the early 19605. A total of 436,121 offences were reported compared with 438,079 in 1986. The over-all clearance rate improved from 41.8 per cent to 43.6 per cent. Reported violent crime rose 9.7 per cent from 22,172 in 1986 o 24,329. The biggest iicrease jn this category, which covers homicide, kidnapping, abduction, assault; robbery, intimidation and threats, was a 53.8 per cent rise in grievous assaults. These increased from 362 to 557. "he police solved 81.5 per cent of the attacks. Fifty-four murders were investiga ed during 1987 compared with 67 in the previous year. Sexual _attacks continued to increase, there being a 21.5 per cent rise. A total of 1844 attacks were reported compared with 1517 in 1086. Mr Churches said the improved clearance rates for violent offences (80 per cent) and sexual attacks (68 per cent) reflected the police effort in trying to solve these crimes.

Dishonesty offences fell 3.1 per cent and burglaries were down 4.4 per cent. Thefts decreased 3.1 (per cent. i Offences against justice irose 40.9 per cent. All ipolice districts reported increases, the main contribution coming from failures to answer bail and breaches in supervision and community work. The district with the largest number of re-, ported offences was Auckland, with 123,007. Well-' ington was next, with, 50,295 and then by Christchurch, with 49,239. Districts and crimeclearance rates are: Auck-' land, 40.2 per cent; Christchurch, 40.6; Dunedin, 47.6; Gisborne, 47.5; Hamilton, 42.6; Hawke's Bay, 40.1; Invercargill, 55.7; New Plymouth, 52.3; Nelson, 49.1; Northland, 46.3; Palmerston North, 45.8; Rotorua, 40.3, Timaru, 57.5; Wanganui, 47.4; Wellington, 43.7; West Coast, 60. The Opposition’s spokesman on police and justice, Messrs John Banks and Paul East respectively, said lawlessness was now at such a level that it threatened the daily lives of all New Zealanders. "No-one is exempt from the next unprovoked attack," they said in a joint statement. The Opposition was willing to work with the Government on developing a bipartisan approach to combat the increase in violent crime, they said.