Strategies

New Zealand Crime Reduction Strategy (2002)

The New Zealand Government’s Crime Reduction Strategy is the 2002 successor of the 1994 Crime Prevention Strategy. It reflects changing priorities since then for reducing crime.

The Crime Reduction Strategy (CRS) sets out a framework for crime reduction activity across seven priority areas:

• Family violence and child abuse
• Other violence and sexual violence
• Serious traffic offending
• Youth offending and reoffending
• Burglary
• Theft of and from cars
• Organised crime

The new CRS framework expands the scope of the Government’s crime prevention and crime reduction efforts to include a wider spectrum of activities, from social sector initiatives like early intervention to law enforcement and criminal justice system activities. It emphasises coordination and collaboration between agencies across the social, youth justice and criminal justice sectors and provides the Crime Prevention Unit with a new mandate to guide its work in building local crime prevention partnerships.

At a local level, the New Plymouth District Council applies for, and administers, crime prevention project funding on behalf of the Crime Prevention Unit.

Crime Prevention Unit

A 2009 review of the Crime Prevention Unit has seen it become amalgamated into the broader Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice group of the Ministry of Justice.  Where formally crime prevention activities under the Crime Prevention Unit were supported by three groups of operations, policy and restorative justice, new groups of Community Relations and Operations, and Crime and Social Policy have been developed.

Prior to the review the CPU managed. The CPU distributes funding for the provision of crime reduction and community safety programmes according to government approved criteria. Accordingly, the CPU funds partnership arrangements between the Ministry of Justice and metropolitan and large provincial Territorial Authorities (TAs), Iwi, and Pacific People.  The remainder of the funding is used to fund specific crime reduction projects delivered by or through smaller TAs and independent service providers.

New Zealand Police Strategic Plan to 2010

As well as a clear focus on effective and targeted interventions for the reduction of crime another major strategic focus stems from the New Zealand Police Strategic Plan to 2010.  To achieve a vision of Safer Communities Together, three outcomes are focussed on:

1. Confident, safe and secure communities
2. Less actual crime and road trauma
3. A world class police service

Community reassurance is a key feature of this strategy, to be achieved by engaging with the community to achieve participation, identification of community priorities, local partnerships and protection.