Crime on the rise? Aucklanders feeling less safe

Many Aucklanders have been feeling less safe due to crime rates recently increasing, with some blaming political policies.

Auckland has been seeing an increase in violent crimes, car theft and ram raids, with a high level of youth offending.

According to data analysed by Newshub, recorded crimes in Auckland have increased by 20.03 per cent from March 2022.

A recent online survey conducted by AUT journalism students found that 88.5 percent of respondents believe Auckland is more dangerous now than it was last year.

Many said that they were more exposed to crime with one respondent saying that they are “constantly about cars being stolen and ram raids.”

“Well, I mean the statistics speak for themselves. There was literally an eight-year-old driving a stolen car the other day,” another person said.

With the general election looming, crime has become a hot topic within political discussion.

Other replies to the survey focused on the government’s response to crime, with 93.6 per cent of respondents believing that the current government wasn’t doing enough to deal with the increase.

One respondent said that the government needs “to implement more preventative measures.

“Sort out housing and food prices, decrease sentences, and put offenders in rehabilitative, culturally-safe programs.”

This sentiment has been echoed in recent political debate, particularly focusing on the Labour party’s policy of decreasing the prison population.

NZ Police’s crime snapshot reveals there has been a 29 per cent decrease in prison population from 2018 to 2022, while the overall crime rate has been climbing.

In response, the National party has adopted a hard on crime approach to sell their party to the public.

This approach seems to have more support with the public, with one Aucklander saying, “get harder punishments on offenders, what is happening at the moment is beyond a joke.”