22 October 2020
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Rotorua crime trends data
Enquiry
A data analysis company called Dot Loves Data has put together a snap shot of district crime (see HERE) based off NZ Police statistics to show 5-year trends on a per population basis.
The data for Rotorua shows Rotorua is the worst in the country in two of the most common crime categories - theft and breaking and entering. It's second worst for illegal use of a motor vehicle and theft from a retail premises.
The company's director, Justin Lester, is a former mayor Wellington and the purpose of his analysis is to raise awareness about crime trends. He said the data is publicly available but rarely gets analysed and therefore districts run the risk of not knowing the full extent of their issues.
Could Steve Chadwick please answer the following by 1.30pm today?
- Are you surprised by the figures?
- Are you concerned?
Are you confident we are doing all we can to improve things?
Response
Mayor Chadwick was attending an all-day meeting. Comment was provided by Deputy Mayor Councillor Dave Donaldson who made the following key points:
- Highlights the need to address key social issues linked to crime
- Requires collective effort and Central Govt support to enable local solutions to our local issues
- There is a lot of work happening to address social issues - this includes the work that is happening, in partnership with iwi and key Government agencies like as police, MSD, MHUD and Kainga Ora, to align efforts to achieve our housing and thriving communities priorities (which are aligned to community wellbeing)
Meanwhile, local economic recovery framework, also in partnership with others, aims to rebuild our local economy, keep people in work and jobs and create new jobs and opportunities which will ultimately also help to reduce social issues
