NZ crime rates continue to fall, but burglary resolution remains very poor

Reflecting trends in the US, violent crime and homicide rates in NZ continue a downwards trend, but only 42.3 % of all crimes are solved: that statistic is dragged down massively by a mere 13% for burglaries and the incidence of them has gone up on last year.

Reported on the TVNZ News webpage, burglary victim Reina Webster is unimpressed by police claims to a drop in overall crime. She's taking few chances these days, having been burgled three times in 13 months.

"When someone smashes down my front door and cleans out my house and they [police] don't come to visit me, I'm not comforted by these stats at all," she says.

We've learned the hard way ourselves with opportunist theft in Waikanae, having a big retirement village next to us which regrettably attracts lowlife thieves preying on the elderly, including a few individuals who are employed by it. It's one thing to have strong suspicions, however, it's another thing to prove them: accordingly we have installed internet-monitored security cameras so that if there is a next time, we'll have photographic proof.  The systems available aren't as expensive as you might think.

A letter in this week's local newspaper