Murder, arson and robbery rise in Chch

Press, 23 May 1989, Page 1

Murder, arson and robbery rise in Chch

By

BARRY CLARKE

A jump in the number of murders, arsons and robberies dominates the latest crime statistics made public yesterday. In Christchurch, seven people were murdered to the year ended March 31, up five on the previous 12 months. There were 284 reported arson offences, up 98 per cent; and robberies rose 16.8 per cent. Reported crime in the city rose 3.6 per cent, just under the national figure rise of 3.8 per cent.

The biggest rise in crime was in Wellington, up 24.5 per cent, followed by Hastings, 22.1 per cent, and Napier, 21.7 per cent. Auckland central crime figures rose 4.5 per cent. Dunedin recorded a drop of 7.1 per cent. South Canterbury recorded an 8 per cent rise; Christchurch rural, 9.8 per cent; Nelson, 8 per cent; Southland, 3.6 per cent; while the West Coast was down 5.8 per cent; and Otago, 8.6 per cent.

The Christchurch police cleared (solved) all the murder cases, 42 per cent of the robberies (up 2 per cent on the previous year), but oniy 27.8 per cent of the arsons, a fall of 7.1 per cent. Violent crime rose 4.2 per cent; the number of offences reported

being 2262, compared with 2169 the year before. The clearance rate was 79.4 per cent. Fifty-seven sex crimes were reported, up seven, but the clearance rate dropped from 72 per cent to 54.3 per cent.

A total of 41,177 offences were reported in the city last year, up from 39,710. The over-all clearance rate was down marginally to 39 per cent. Of the 28 police districts, Christchurch had the second lowest clearance rate. Auckland’s North Shore had the lowest at 37.7 per cent, while the highest was West Coast, 58.9 per cent, followed by South Canterbury, 56.6 per cent. Other offences reported in Christchurch (previous year’s figure in brackets): Cannabis, 1073 (976), up 9.9 per cent; other drugs, 190 (225), down 14.9 per cent; burglary, 7448 (6724), up 10.8 per cent; minor, 293 (158), up 85 per cent; unlawfully taking motor vehicle, 3987 (3671), up 8.6. per cent; dishonesty, 30,011 (29,275), up 2.5 per cent. Nationally, violent crime rose 8.6 per cent, with 27,692 incidents reported. But the total rise in reported violent offences was mainly because of a sharp 22.9 per cent increase in serious assaults, with

6574 cases being reported. The police have a relatively high success rate for solving violent crime, with 79.6 per cent of all violent offences resulting in a prosecution, compared with 44.4 per cent over-all.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr John Jamieson, said the steady rise in the over-all clearance rate over the last three years was particularly heartening. The rate had climbed from 40.8 per cent in 1986 to 42.3 per cent in 1987, and 44 per cent in March, 1988. Total reported sexual offending dropped slightly in the year to March, although the police noted that the number of sexual attacks rose 1.6 per cent. The police cleared 60.9 per cent of the 3464 sexual offences notified to them.

Sexual offending accounted for less than 1 per cent of all reported crime and violent offences 6.1 per cent. Offences involving dishonesty were by far the biggest category, accounting for 61.7 per cent of incidents reported to the police. Drugs and “anti-social” offences — which include liquor and gambling crimes — were the next biggest group, accounting for 11.8 per cent

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