Two of the biggest cities in New Zealand have the lowest crime rate in the country according to the latest police crime statistics.
"People might expect a quiet rural area to have the least crime but in fact it’s North Shore and Waitakere Cities... two of the biggest and busiest places in the country", said District Commander, Superintendent Roger Carson.
The North Shore/Waitakere/Rodney Police District has the lowest rate of offending recorded (940 offences per 10,000 population).
"We can’t take all of the credit for this... these good results have been achieved through a combined effort with the community and several key partners".
"A classic example of the community taking responsibility for crime reduction is the significant decrease in road deaths. There were 22 people killed on the road in our police district compared with 36 in the previous year".
The North Shore/Waitakere/Rodney Police also had the highest resolution rate out of the major metropolitan police districts. 52% of reported crime was solved.
"This should make criminals uneasy... if they come to our district and commit crime, there’s a high likelihood they will be caught".
There has been a small increase in violent offending (3%). This is primarily due to a 7% increase in Family Violence.
"I am encouraged by those figures because that tells me victims have more confidence in reporting a crime that is often kept as a secret within families".
"Overall there are some very good results and I believe our community can be proud of the combined and ongoing efforts between police and our partner agencies to make this District a safe place to live, work and play".
In the next fiscal year Mr Carson wants Police to respond to urgent events more quickly and focus on increasing the enforcement around liquor offending.