Crimefighting Success… and next steps

The Haps

Parliament is in recess so your property is safe. Better still, David Seymour is Acting Prime Minister for a week. Feel free to send through your suggestions, a good revolution needs lots of ideas.

Crimefighting Success… and next steps

The Government has applied simple logic to stopping crime and has got results. It turns out criminals respond to incentives and signalling from the Government, so the values and policies of the Government matter.

Here are some policies that won’t work. If the Government pays gangs from funds meant for victim support, if Police ‘escort’ gang convoys disrupting the law-abiding, and if anyone actually charged gets a five-thousand-dollar tax-funded ‘cultural report’ to tell the Judge they only offended because te tiriti was not upheld… you’ll get more crime.

It’s the same with giving KFC to kids who get up on the roof, setting a target to reduce the prison population regardless of crime levels, or saying crime is caused by poverty and police are bad people. It all leads to more crime.

Actually, it all led to more crime because these policies were trialled by the previous Government. Upon election, the new Government ran as hard as it could in the opposite direction.

ACT policies led the way. Removing the prison target, defunding cultural reports, revising sentencing guidelines, and restoring Three Strikes. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour made youth facility staff take themselves seriously, wear uniforms, and fix the broken locks. No more kids being bribed off the roof with KFC.

The results? The prison population is up by around 1,800. Some complain of the cost, ACT says locking up the worst offenders is the best money taxpayers will ever spend. You still have to do quite a lot to get locked up so if you do it’s worth it.

We’re proud of ACT’s role pushing the pendulum back to favour victims over offenders. The results are stark.

25 per cent fewer violent crimes have been committed since the Government changed. Youth crime is down by the same amount. For shop owners, ram raids have gone from a daily occurrence to nearly unheard of. After years of decline, crime is headed in the right direction. Down.

But, there is no rest for the wicked, and ACT has been thinking ahead. Over the last fortnight the Party has released policies in four areas that might be seen as gaps in the Government’s success to date.

Low level retail crime, and nuisance in public spaces remains a problem. Police can’t be everywhere, they have to prioritise the serious stuff. Shops and shopping precincts are using private security but their powers are limited.

ACT’s proposal to create a new class of Accredited Security Officer with greater powers to search and detain criminals, as well as greater training and accountability, fills a gap between police and security guards. It has been praised by Retail NZ, the Newmarket Business Association, and the security industry.

Domestic violence is down, but sometimes crime behind closed doors doesn’t get as much attention as that in the street and in shops. ACT has drilled into data and found half of victims stay in violent relationships because they’re afraid for their pets. Often their pets are threatened, it’s disgusting.

ACT’s proposal to create a new crime, liable for seven years’ jail, of Coercion by Animal Abuse would fill this gap. It is a smart way to hit domestic violence hard up front, because animal abuse is sadly too often a precursor to human abuse.

Rural crime is too often neglected. Nearly every crime story you see in the national media is about urban crime. ACT has eyes and ears to the ground in rural New Zealand, and understands the problems.

The Party’s rural crime policies would crack down on stock rustling with tougher penalties and better tracing, increase rural deterrence patrols by 100,000 hours per year, and introduce text message reporting for areas with poor cell coverage. Again, smart fixes to fill gaps in policy and get results for rural people.

Finally, burglary has carried on as more than a low-level crime. For many people it is about more than lost goods. It is a violation of their privacy and sense of security and safety in their own home. The burglaries are caused by a small number of professional recidivists; one did 200 burglaries. ACT has proposed to give them a mandatory minimum of three years for three convictions. It’s hard to do a burglary from prison.

The policy would cost a maximum $200 million, to lock up 952 extra people. If all burglaries stopped it would cost $1,000 per burglary, a bargain compared with the impact of being burgled. In reality, not all will go to jail and not all will be stopped, but you can get an idea of the cost effectiveness from these figures.

The ACT Party has always been the clearest and most consistent Party on crime. It goes to the heart of the party’s beliefs that your efforts should make a difference, you shouldn’t have your hard work ripped off by someone who can’t be bothered making their own effort.

This election ACT can point to a strong record of changing policies to make life in New Zealand safer, and a suite of well-thought-out ideas that will keep New Zealand smart and tough on crime if the Party is re-elected to Government.