How safe is your city?
Christchurch and Auckland - NZ's most violent citites
By RUTH LAUGESEN - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 30 December 2007
Auckland and Christchurch's central city areas are the crime capitals of New Zealand for violence and sex attacks but North Shore and Waikato are two of the safest places to live, new figures show.
Close behind Auckland and Christchurch is Counties Manukau Central, with large North Island provincial centres such as Hamilton, Gisborne and Rotorua making up the rest of the top 10 list of the country's most crime-ridden districts.
Christchurch Central topped the overall rates of violence offences, and was the nation's capital for grievous assaults, serious assaults, minor assaults and sexual attacks. It also topped the tables for burglary, car thefts, and property damage.
The figures, calculated by the National Party research unit from recorded crime figures to June 2007, rank offending in every police district in the country against population.
Auckland City Central had high rates of violent offending of all types, particularly for kidnapping and abduction, aggravated robbery, sex attacks, car thefts and theft. It was also the nation's drugs capital, topping the tables for both cannabis and methamphetamine offending.
Mayor John Banks said Auckland City's centre no longer felt safe at night. "I wouldn't feel safe walking with my wife around the streets of the Auckland CBD after the movies. The CBD has become something of a melting pot for very bad nocturnal behaviour."
The level of drunkenness on the streets was worrying. He said he would be working over the holiday period on a "high-level strategy" with the police and associated agencies tackling issues such as the high number of homeless people, "delinquent behaviour" and graffiti, and the patchy policing of a city-wide liquor ban for the streets.
He said some 30 homeless people slept in doorways each night. "They attract violence, they attract sexual assaults and they attract abuse," he said.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has slammed liberalisation of liquor laws and 24-hour alcohol sales for some of his city's problems, and says politicians have let down the public by making alcohol too easy to buy.
Police assistant commissioner Grant Nicholls said Auckland and Christchurch central's high crime rates were a combination of high numbers of people coming into those areas, mixed with alcohol, and a reflection of the way figures were calculated. The resident population in each area was low, meaning offending came out as a high rate against a low population base.
The crime rate in Auckland city had actually reduced over the past decade, he said. "Locations that offer concentrations of work or entertainment opportunities, such as central city areas, can generally be expected to show higher crime rates."
He said homicide rate figures should be treated with caution because there were only about 50 each year over the whole country, meaning figures could vary sharply from year to year.
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