Is New Zealand Still a Safe Country?

Is New Zealand a still safe country?

Some of us living in New Zealand, especially in Auckland, might feel like crime is on the rise and things are getting more dangerous.

 

Another way to look at this issue might be asking

 

"Do we actually have MORE crimes in NZ?"

 

This is something we can actually count on, and we turned to the NZ Police’s Victimisation Time and Place report portal. This system lets us see where, when, and what types of crimes have occurred, giving us a clearer picture of the crime landscape.

(Srouce: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=678682547772982&set=a.244222197885688)

Before we begin, we want to emphasise the following point.

We understand that statistics can seem distant when you’ve been directly impacted by crime. No number can truly encapsulate the fear, loss, and upheaval experienced by victims. Our aim in sharing this data is not to diminish these experiences but to shed light on broader trends. Every crime is a personal tragedy, and we at Xpanda Security and DIY Xpanda remain committed to working towards a safer New Zealand where everyone feels secure in their homes and communities. It's encouraging to see a decline in certain crime categories, but we recognize that there is still much work to be done.

Index: 

1. Crime Data Analysis
2. Overall Crime Trends
3. Regional Breakdown
4. Territory-Specific Insights
5. Takeaway: What Does This Mean for Security?
6. References
7. Appendix: Security Solutions by DIY Xpanda

For our analysis, we compared data from two periods:

• Period A: July 2022 to June 2023
• Period B: July 2023 to June 2024

We specifically focused on crimes relevant to the security solutions we offer:

• Robbery, Extortion, and Related Offences
• Aggravated Robbery
• Non-Aggravated Robbery
• Unlawful Entry With Intent/Burglary, Break and Enter
• Unlawful Entry With Intent/Burglary, Break and Enter

For the purpose of this blog, we’ll refer to these as "specific crimes."

While we aim to provide a broad view of crime trends, our primary focus is on these specific crimes because they directly impact the residential and commercial security solutions we provide.

It’s important to note that we didn’t include Theft and Related Offenses in our analysis. Although these make up a large portion of victimisation statistics, they often occur as a result of a burglary or break-in, which is already captured in the burglary statistics.
(Reference: difference between Burglary vs Theft)

 (Source: Google Map)

Firstly, how is NZ doing as a whole? Do we have more crimes or less? What kind of crimes do we have?

On page 1, you can see that the majority of the crime is theft, and "Unlawful Entry With Intent/Burglary, Break and Enter" comes in 2nd place.

On page 2, if you compare the initial month and the last month in the chart, you can see that the monthly victimisations had gone up by 682.

• 2022/07: 24650
• 2024/06: 25332

Overall, the number of victimisation has been up and down but at a rather consistent pace. 

Do we have fewer crimes? The simple answer seems to be yes, but it depends on what you look at:

Overall Victimisations:

• Period A: 318,231 recorded victimisations
• Period B: 313,329 recorded victimisations
• Difference: 4,902 fewer crimes overall

Specific Crime (Robbery, Extortion, and Burglary):

• Period A: 75,358 (24% of total crimes)
• Period B: 65,473 (21% of total crimes)
• Difference: 9,885 fewer specific crimes

Property crime remains a persistent issue in New Zealand. While a slight decrease in overall victimizations is evident between Period A and Period B, this snapshot over two periods doesn't fully capture the ongoing challenges posed by property crime.

Specifically, robberies, extortions, and burglaries—categories representing a substantial portion of overall crime—have declined. However, these crimes continue to occur at alarming rates. It's crucial to recognize that while these figures indicate a small downward trend in a short timeframe, property crime remains a significant concern for New Zealanders.

A longer-term perspective is necessary to fully understand the fluctuations in property crime rates.

(Source: Korakys, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Crime trends can vary widely depending on the region. Here’s what we found when breaking down the data by area:

• Gisborne Region: The only region with increases in both overall and specific crimes.

  • Overall Victimisations:
    • Period A: 3,068
    • Period B: 3,717
    • Difference: 649 more
  • Specific Crime Victimisations:
    • Period A: 848
    • Period B: 951
    • Difference: 103 more

• Auckland Region: While overall victimisations have risen, specific crimes victimisations have decreased.

  • Overall Victimisations:
    • Period A: 112,651
    • Period B: 118,698
    • Difference: 6,047 more
  • Specific Crime Victimisations:
    • Period A: 24,711
    • Period B: 21,748
    • Difference: 2,963 fewer

• Taranaki Region: A slight increase in specific crimes.

  • Specific Crime Victimisations:
    • Period A: 1,252
    • Period B: 1,305
    • Difference: 53 more

This regional breakdown gives us another angle to answer the question, "Is New Zealand a safe country?" Almost 35% of the country’s victimisations are concentrated in the Auckland region, indicating that more populated areas naturally experience higher crime rates.

5. Takeaway: Is NZ still safe?