But it’s someone else’s problem, according a Victoria University survey, Not in my backyard? Crime in the Neighbourhood, conducted by Institute of Criminology director Associate Professor Michael Rowe. This is taken from an write up by Alanah May Ericson in today’s NZ Herald newspaper:

“New Zealanders can recognise crime in other areas, but prefer to dismiss it as part of everyday life in their own, a study suggests.

The study focused on four areas – Murrays Bay on Auckland’s North Shore, Otahuhu in South Auckland, Westown in New Plymouth and Havelock North in Hawkes Bay. They were selected for their varying socio-economic status, demographic profile and police-recorded crime rates.

The survey found that while more than 80 per cent of respondents agreed – or strongly agreed – crime was a serious problem in New Zealand, 63.2 per cent believed it was a problem only in other areas.

.. many respondents were defensive of the community to the point of dismissing problems such as public drunkenness by young people as a “rite of passage” and not something of a wider concern.

Some expressed sympathy for young people they believed had limited options in terms of social and leisure activities, suggesting they were at times over-policed.
One laughed off finding comatose teenagers in her yard at weekends.”We find people sleeping in our agapanthus every Saturday night. You know that’s normal behaviour for Havelock North and teenagers.”(ed. Normal?!)

How serious a problem is crime in New Zealand, how widespread is it?

You decide for yourself. Here is a round up of some high profile crimes hitting the news over the last week.

• New Zealand’s youngest convicted killer Bailey Junior Kurariki, was back in court this week for assault and property damage charges. These are the latest of a string of offences since he was released from prison last year after being involved in the killing of a pizza delivery man in Auckland.

• 4 Masked men held up an Armourgard van with a shotgun as it made a delivery to an ANZ bank in Huntly.

• A man was released on bail in connection with murder of a man in Massey, Auckland.

• Assault charges were withdrawn for two members of a  vigilante group who patrolled Martinborough at night after a spate of burglaries in the town.

• Christopher Shaw, currently on trial at the High Court in Timaru, boasted “he had hunted all his life, had been shooting since he was 3 and “could have sniped every one of those cops”

• 550 Toyota vans have been stolen in an 18 month period by an international car theft ring operating in South Auckland
  

• A Christchurch pedophile with a long history of offending has just escaped a preventative jail term.

•  The Travelex in Hamilton was help up, it was the fourth robbery of a financial institution in the city during October.

• The NZ Credit Union Office in  Laurence Stevens Drive, South Auckland was help up at gunpoint.

• A young woman was indecently assaulted in Palmerston North.

• The Heu Heu St Credit Union in Taupo was held up at gunpoint

• Motueka police are concerned over a spate of minor arson and vandalism in the town. It appears the offenders were young and often intoxicated.

• Gordon Hieatt appeared in court in connection with the murder of Nuttidar Vaikaew in Western Springs, Auckland.

• A woman from Marton has been arrested for attempting to smuggle cannabis into Manawatu Prison

• The Mill Liquorsave in Taradale was held up and a worker was stabbed in the chest with a knife

• A Palmerston North student’s dreams of being a fashion designer suffered a serious setback after theives stole her car, phots, clothes and a year’s worth of assignments. 
  

• ‘Gansta kids’ in South Auckland who offend have been called chameleons because they still attend church with their parents.

• Wini Miria Te Maia McLean was discovered dead at a premises Te Kuiti. She had been the victim of “multiple assaults“

• 2 Year old Karl Perigo-Check, son of an alleged mob member, died from critical injuries in Wanganui.

• A date was set for the trial of Gregory Meads,who is accused of shooting his wife in Matamata.

• Azees Mahomed is on trial for one charge of murder and one of causing an infant grievous bodily harm. She and her husband are also accused of failing to provide their daughter Tahani with the necessaries of life. They lived in South Auckland.

• The trial of a Christchurch taxi driver on a charge of rape has been adjourned. Mohammed Darwesh faced three charges of indecent assault, three of abduction for the purpose of sex, and one of rape, involving three girls. Two were aged 17 and one was aged 16 at the time of the alleged offences.

• Tony Worrell is on trial for the murder of a woman in Auckland, it is alleged he was heavily under the influence of alcohol and that he deliberately drove his car into hers.

• A 17 year old youth admitted a charge of grevious bodily harm after  bashing an off-duty policeman outside a party in Hastings.

• A woman pleaded guilty to child cruelty at the High Court in Auckland.

• Two teenagers aged 17 and 18 have been jailed for a burglary spree in Nelson, Richmond and Motueka that left a trail of distraught victims.

• A hunter from Motukarara, south of Christchurch has been fined $8,500 for shooting rare and protected swans.

Further reading, see tags Crime and Armed Robberies.