B3.3.4 New Zealand: Crime
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
B3.3.4 New Zealand: Crime
Yes, we have crime. While it may be 'safe' compared to most other
countries, serious crime does exist here and visitors should take sensible
precautions. Always lock your vehicle, and don't leave it in isolated
locations for extended periods. Avoid leaving valuables visible in the
car. Avoid areas/situations which appear unwholesome. The emergency phone
number (police, ambulance, fire) is 111, and ask the operator for the
service required (this can be used from payphones without paying).
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John Davis wrote:
"The crime rate isn't overly high, there was some information in the paper
today (1/95) showing the average number of reported crimes per 10,000
people for Chch is 1877. The NZ average is 1457, Chch came second
(Auckland had 2130). The safest place is rural Canterbury at 568. This
may sound rather high, but this _all_ reported crimes, from shoplifting up.
If you break it down into crime types, the NZ average for violent crimes
per 10,000 is 124, sexual crimes is 14, drugs and 'anti-social' crimes
(presumably things like being drunk and disorderly) is 150, property damage
is 98 and property abuse is 74. As you can see from this, the serious
crime rate here is therefore very low, things like murder and rape are
fairly rare (rare enough to make the national TV news), armed offences are
virtually un-heard of (again, and armed hold-up will make the national
news). You're most at risk from petty crime (opportunist car theft,
break-ins etc. - as opposed to 'professional' thieves who are fairly
rare). Your chances of being assaulted, held up, or murdered are virtually
nil. Probably the most dangerous part of day to day life here is the way
people drive :-)
On the other hand, do silly things like leave a nice expensive camera
sitting in your car whilst it's parked in a dark street in the middle of
town at night, and you'll probably find someone's nicked it (lots of
tourists find this out the hard way - wish people would stop telling them
NZ is totally safe)."
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Murder Statistics for 1991
Brian Dooley wrote:
"Notes
(1) All data taken from NZ Year Books and adjusted to include only males
aged 15+ years.
(2) Numbers marked "*" are taken from Year Books where murders and
manslaughter (not incl. deaths by careless driving) were aggregated.
(3) Numbers 1967-82 are taken directly from tables which give
deaths/million.
(4) Numbers 1974-94 refer specifically to murder only.
(5) These numbers are approximations but good enough to allow reasonable
conclusions. You will observe that my value of 3.3/100,000 for 1991
accords pretty well with the value of 3.4/100,000 quoted before from the
Economist.
MURDERS/100,000 of Total Population:
1967 1.4* 1970 1.2* 1980 1.3 1990 1.6
1968 0.7* 1971 0.9* 1981 1.3 1991 1.5
1969 1.1* 1972 1.0* 1982 1.3 1992 2.1
1973 0.8* 1983 --- 1993 1.1
1974 1.4 1984 1.2
1975 1.0 1985 ---
1976 1.1 1986 1.8
1977 1.8 1987 1.7
1978 1.9 1988 ---
1979 1.6 1989 2.0
MURDERS/100,000 MEN for NZ (men=age 15+):
1967 3.2* 1970 2.7* 1980 3.0 1990 3.8
1968 1.6* 1971 2.0* 1981 3.0 1991 3.3
1969 2.5* 1972 2.3* 1982 3.0 1992 4.9
1973 1.8* 1983 --- 1993 2.6
1974 3.2 1984 2.7
1975 2.3 1985 ---
1976 2.5 1986 4.2
1977 4.1 1987 4.1
1978 4.3 1988 ---
1979 3.6 1989 4.8
The thing which strikes me about the table is that it does have a
consistency, which implies that if the Economist's conclusions are true
then not only is NZ comparatively violent now - it has been for a long
time. However I am not persuaded that a simple ratio is applicable to all
situations, particularly where small numbers are involved. The table has a
volatility which I don't think it would have if a population of 50 million
were involved."
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I had a debate with myself about where to put this stuff. After the murder
stats seemed as good as any...
Frank van der Hulst offers:
"Whilst doing a spot of research in Massey's library, I took the time to
look for road traffic accident stats. Like all stats, take them with a
grain of salt. Your mileage may vary :-)
"What I found is somewhat dated, but FWIW here are comparisons of injury
accidents/100mill km for various countries. Illuminating perhaps for those
who claim NZer's are the worst drivers in the world (possibly excepting
Romans).
Finland 62
Norway 70
USA 72
Niger 79
Denmark 79
NZ 88 *
Canada 88
Turkey 88
Italy 91
Australia 92
Spain 120
France 127
Germany 129
Great Britain 130
Peru 131
Netherlands 157
Hungary 193
Israel 229
India 242
Syria 264
Morocco 279
Belgium 285
Japan 320
Ivory Coast 539
"These data are for 1970/71. As usual, I ask anyone with more recent stats
to email them to me or post them.
"Don't go driving in Ivory Coast!"
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