• High trust and confidence in Police remains strong at 67%
• Reporting to Police continues to improve
• Public concerns about safety continue due to high profile crime trends
• Other crime levels remain broadly stable across last 6 years
• 83% of public believe Police act professionally
Police have today released the 2022-2023 results from the public perceptions survey known as the Police Module, conducted as part of the Ministry of Justice's annual New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS).
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster welcomed the report's valuable insights into the New Zealanders' feelings of safety and perceptions about crime and Police.
"The survey shows that overall, high trust and confidence in Police remains strong at 67% and that the public consistently feel that Police will treat them professionally (83%). That is a tribute to how our staff go about their roles every day, working closely with communities to keep them safe," Commissioner Coster said.
The survey captures information about what people experienced during the period November 2022 to October 2023 whether or not they reported a crime to Police.
"Preventing crime and harm in our communities and responding to emergencies will always be our priority.
"Our purpose as an organisation is to ensure people are safe and feel safe - so the perceptions about how people see and feel about crime are highly relevant.
"Levels of incident reporting to Police continue to improve, especially in areas like interpersonal violence. We have invested heavily over the last few years to make reporting easier, and we are pleased that is having a positive effect. Reporting of crime helps Police build a clearer picture of what is happening in our communities and deploy to prevent crime and reassure our communities.
"Fear of crime has risen internationally in the last few years, and we know that sentiment has been similar here in New Zealand. At the moment, we believe this is driven by public concerns around high profile crime trends such as serious and persistent youth crime and gang intimidation in public places.
"As we have seen, these types of crime attract a lot of public attention. It's pleasing to note that ram raids have started to trend down but, as we apply enforcement pressure on their offending, offenders continue to adapt and change their tactics. Since last year we have seen more aggravated robberies on petrol stations and other stores.
"Our staff around the country continue to respond to the criminal behaviour, while also stepping up our reassurance and visibility to those communities most affected.
"Police recently announced additional resources to establish Gang Disruption Units and boost Community Beat Teams around the country. Together with managing our demand in some areas, such as family harm and mental health differently, Police will be improving both visibility and availability to respond to our demand.
"We note that commercial crimes such as ram raids are not captured in NZCVS crime statistics but are clearly affecting public perceptions of safety.
"These crime spikes are being driven by a small cohort of serious and prolific youth offenders. Police continue to work with other agencies to address the underlying causes behind this offending.
"Youth crime has also driven an increase in car theft over the last two years. Police welcome ongoing work by insurance companies and others to encourage use of immobilisers and steering wheel locks in all cars - and especially for those car marques that are the most stolen.
"Fraud remains a concern to New Zealanders, and most continue to look to their banks to resolve the immediate issue for them. For our part, Police continues to work with banks and international institutions to tackle the organised crime that so often sits behind these scams. We also have an important role in public awareness and prevention.
"These surveys tell us that police need to continue to demonstrate to the public the results of our efforts and our successes in identifying and addressing emerging crime trends such as gang intimidation and ram raids."
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Top level national findings:
• Between November 2022 and October 2023 NZCVS found that:
o Online fraud remains a concern - most people report those offences to banks rather than Police.
o Car thefts have increased in the last two years.
o The prevalence of adults experiencing crime is broadly consistent with previous cycles
o But high-profile crime trends are affecting public feelings of safety
• The Police Module (PM) shows that most New Zealanders (83%) agree that Police are professional when they are conducting their duties - this is something we are proud of and continue to strive for
• High trust and confidence in Police remains strong at 67%.
