It seems like every day, there is an alarming new crime reported.

Another ram raid, another robbery, another gun shooting incident, someone assaulted…maybe you have even witnessed one!

Like me and many others, you must wonder what’s going on.

What’s happening to our beautiful country?

Where is New Zealand going?

With the staggering breakdown in law and order, what needs to be done?

Official Police data confirms the concerns of small business owners, with an explosion in crime hitting dairies, bottle shops, supermarkets and retailers.

Ramraids are up over 518% within the first six months of 2022.

Violent Crime is up 21%

Assaults are up 31%

Sexual Assaults are up 33%.

Gun violence is up.

Gang numbers are up.

But the prison population is down by 26%.

Underreporting is 70%.

You may be shocked to hear that 1.4 million Kiwis were victims of crime last year. That’s over a quarter of our population. The DHB reported that every day last year, at least one Aucklander was hospitalised with stabbing injuries.

Even our police are not safe:

Six police officers were assaulted every day last year.

In July 2022, a female police officer was brutally assaulted in Manurewa in broad daylight, in the middle of a public place.

Police are feeling powerless, helpless and unsupported.

Daylight robberies in public areas show offenders have no fear of law, police, being caught or any consequences whatsoever.

The businesses have lost faith in the police and justice system. It should not take a gun threat for police action. The Labour government’s soft-on-crime approach is not working.

A sense of lawlessness is gripping not just Auckland but the entire country. This is not the New Zealand we know or want.

We have a crime emergency in New Zealand, right here, right now.

This crime emergency needs a national discussion because a softly, softly approach is leading us down a very dark path.

So what needs to be done?

I think it’s obvious to most New Zealanders.

Drop the soft approach to crime. Currently, 97% of offenders are getting away with their crimes.

Offenders must be arrested, tried and sentenced.

We need more police.

We need police to be more visible in the community. They must work closely with businesses, building relationships and gathering information on offenders.

Perhaps we take a cue from the UK and re-task parking wardens into Police Community Support Officers with anti-social crime prevention rather than ticketing the shoppers, delivery drivers and contractors we need. In Auckland alone, that would provide an extra resource of around 160 people to support the Police.

Empty shops and dark areas are a criminals’ paradise.  We need better lighting, CCTV, and artificial intelligence for gathering information.

For our vulnerable businesses, fog cannons and bollards are a good deterrent. The dairy shop sector bleeds for the $1.8 billion they collect for the government off cigarettes and GST, so around $25 million would help to provide two-thirds of dairies with bollards and fog cannons.

Until and unless the Govt gets tough on crime, no amount of money can solve the problem.

I’m Sunny Kaushal, Chair of the Dairy and Business Owners Group, for The Common Room.

Written by Sunny Kaushal, July 2022

Ramraids are up over 518% within the first six months of 2022.
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Assaults are up 31%.
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Sexual Assaults are up 33%.
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Gun violence is up.
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Gang numbers are up.
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Prison numbers are down.
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Underreporting is 70%.
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At least one Aucklander was hospitalised with stabbing injuries.
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Six police officers were assaulted every day last year.
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