Wednesday, 1 April 2015 - 3:32pm |
Canterbury

Recorded crime in Canterbury falls again to reach new record low

2 min read

Overall recorded crime in Canterbury District for the year ending 31 December 2014 has fallen by nearly 6 percent compared to 2013.

Statistics New Zealand crime figures, released today, show a total of 38,010 offences were recorded in Canterbury for the 12 months to 31 December 2014, compared to 40,393 in the 2013.  A decrease of 5.9%.

When compared on a per head of population basis this shows that recorded crime has dropped from 724.5 offences per 10,000 people in 2013 to 668.0 in 2014 - a reduction of 7.8%.

Canterbury District Commander, Superintendent Gary Knowles, says a drop in recorded crime levels correlates to a reduction in the number of victims of crime.  “In 1996 there were 53,717 recorded offences in Canterbury.  18 years later and our crime levels have dropped 29.2 %.  This is another really positive result for Canterbury Police and reflects the dedication and professionalism of our officers and the benefits of preventative policing.”

"We continue to invested a lot of effort into District-wide prevention activities.  Since 2012 we have seen reported crime drop an average of about 2,400 per year.   As a District we have been working hard to improve our front-line response and combined with our prevention focus we are seeing a reduction in crime which is, in turn, keeping our communities safe.”

“New technology and mobility devices allows our front line staff to access offender information almost instantly.  This allows them to make decisions based on real-time information and respond appropriately and quickly to incidents.”

"Our District Command Centre continues to increase our productivity and responsiveness by deploying staff to the right areas at the right times.  In Canterbury we use technology to identify crime trends and inform our planning and prevention activities " said Superintendent Knowles.

The criminal offending profile in Canterbury for 2013/14 is overall very similar to previous years.  Theft and related offences continue to make up the majority of recorded crime at 34.82% followed by unlawful entry and burglary (14.47%) and property damage related offences (12.90%).

The largest decrease in recorded offences in Canterbury was in public order offences, falling 29.7% from 4,593 in 2013 to 3,231 in 2014. The second largest decrease was in property damage offences dropping 17.9% followed by a 11.3% reduction in offences endangering persons.  Sexual assault and related offences dropped 7.0% compared to the same period last year. 

Recorded crime in Canterbury Metro and Mid South Canterbury in 2014 continues to fall overall despite a 2% increase in population to 569,000 from 557,520 in 2013.

Recorded offences in Canterbury Metro (33,425 offences) were down by 5.1 percent on 2013 (35,223).

In Mid South Canterbury, recorded crime reduced by 11.3 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, with total offences falling from 5,170 to 4,585.

“It takes continued focus and effort to sustain the reducing trend in reported crime that we are seeing in the District and I would like to personally thank and commend the efforts of our Police staff who continue to put their best foot forward to keep our communities safe.  However in order to continue this trend we need to continue our focus on victims, prevention activities and efforts to reduce alcohol related crime” says Superintendent Knowles. 

ENDS

Issued by:  Lisa-Marie Brooks, District Communications Manager, Canterbury Police District.  Mobile:  021 942 404