Kate Hawkesby: Until we turn around our attitude to crime, stats will continue to go the wrong way

I think what that new NZ Herald poll at the weekend on crime tells us is what we already knew, the Government's completely out of touch. It will be this, among other things, that will see them lose the election come October. Despite telling us over and over again that crime is down and that we all feel safer, you can only lie and feed us so much BS before your cover gets blown. And as it turns out, that turned up in the form of actual data over the weekend where a new survey polling New Zealanders showed in fact we feel less safe today than we did five years ago. This is not news to us, we know it, we’ve been telling the Government that for months, dairy owners, liquor store owners and retailers across the country have been telling them for months, we’ve all seen it, because it’s real. The survey showed that ‘two-thirds of Kiwis are more concerned about being a victim of crime today than they were five years ago, and harsher prison sentences and more police would make them feel safer.’ 1,000  respondents were asked ‘if they were more or less concerned about being the victim of a crime today than five years ago.’ ‘Sixty-seven per cent were more concerned, 28 per cent felt about the same and 5 per cent were less concerned. Concern in Auckland was higher than the national average. Why am I not surprised? As an Aucklander I know it’s the number one topic of conversation wherever you go. It’s forefront every time you walk or drive by shops and see all the boarded up glass, or the empty vacated shops. We don’t feel safe, because we know we are not safe. And despite government and the judiciary’s best attempts to keep everyone out of jails, Kiwis actually want the opposite. We don’t want crime and criminals emptied out onto our streets and into our communities, we want harsher penalties, we want more police. The survey asked what was important to improving their safety, ‘the most common answers were harsher prison sentences (34 per cent) and more police (27 per cent).’ The numbers when you look at them are stark, and depressing.  From 2017 until 2022, reported victims of crime went up 11.9 percent. Offenders arrested went down 25.4 percent, convictions down 26.2 percent, prison sentences down 44.8 percent. That is a shocking example of statistics going the wrong way for a decent and thriving society. That’s unquestionably a government and judiciary soft on crime. How they can argue the opposite is beyond me. People imprisoned down 44.8 percent tells you everything you need to know about the ideology driven bollocks that has seen us end up here.   There will always be those philosophical about crime and arguing we need to be more restorative, rehabilitative and holistic in our approach. Sure, let’s incorporate all of that, but let’s also not downplay crime while we’re at it. Because that’s dangerous and disrespectful to the victims and only sends a message to the perpetrators that committing a crime in this country is no big deal and you won’t be punished for it. Until we turn that around, we will continue to have the stats going the wrong way. And that's doing all of us, a disservice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.