Police Commissioner slams shoplifting directive
The Police Commissioner has slammed a shoplifting directive issued to police, labelling it as "confusing and unhelpful". National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood spoke to Charlotte Cook.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Police recruitment drive sees dozens of cops head to Australia
Photo: RNZ Nearly 40 police officers have headed to jobs in Australia's Northern Terrority, after a recruitment drive late last year. Officers can receive up to A$125,000 pre-tax, and A$1000 for every overtime shift. They also can receive significant housing benefits - with the option to either have a house provided by the Northern Territory force, or receive a housing allowance of A$31,791 per year. Thirty-six New Zealand officers have so far decided to take up the offer - 17 have completed training and been deployed throughout the territory, and 19 have started another training course last week. Northern Territory Police acting superintendent of recruitment and selections Serge Bouma said money was a motivating factor, as well as desire for a new adventure. "I think money is a main motivator, but I'm at pains to say in our info sessions if people are just coming to us for money then their motivations are not right. We want people that are looking for an adventure something different. "What we find - certainly the New Zealand police cohort - is that we have some very good applicants, a lot of very good applicants that really really love policing. But they want to look after their family and do something different." Part of the reason could be that officers are trying to set themselves up for a better retirement back home in New Zealand, he said. "It's not that they're sick of policing, they just want to do something different, and certainly money and financial incentives do play a role in that." Northern Territory police had already noticed interest from officers in Whakatāne which is why they targeted the Eastern Bay of Plenty area, he said. "We've been on the ground in New Zealand quite a few times after the last few years, so November was certainly the first time we went to Whakatāne and what we found, was there was significant interest." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Police recruitment drive sees nearly dozens of cops head to Australia
Photo: RNZ Nearly 40 police officers have headed to jobs in Australia's Northern Terrority, after a recruitment drive late last year. Officers can receive up to A$125,000 pre-tax, and A$1000 for every overtime shift. They also can receive significant housing benefits - with the option to either have a house provided by the Northern Territory force, or receive a housing allowance of A$31,791 per year. Thirty-six New Zealand officers have so far decided to take up the offer - 17 have completed training and been deployed throughout the territory, and 19 have started another training course last week. Northern Territory Police acting superintendent of recruitment and selections Serge Bouma said money was a motivating factor, as well as desire for a new adventure. "I think money is a main motivator, but I'm at pains to say in our info sessions if people are just coming to us for money then their motivations are not right. We want people that are looking for an adventure something different. "What we find - certainly the New Zealand police cohort - is that we have some very good applicants, a lot of very good applicants that really really love policing. But they want to look after their family and do something different." Part of the reason could be that officers are trying to set themselves up for a better retirement back home in New Zealand, he said. "It's not that they're sick of policing, they just want to do something different, and certainly money and financial incentives do play a role in that." Northern Territory police had already noticed interest from officers in Whakatāne which is why they targeted the Eastern Bay of Plenty area, he said. "We've been on the ground in New Zealand quite a few times after the last few years, so November was certainly the first time we went to Whakatāne and what we found, was there was significant interest." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Retailers not reporting crime because they don't believe police will turn up
Hunting and Fishing Kerikeri owner Byron Smith wants retailers to have greater powers to detain shoplifters until police arrive. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf A Northland business leader is imploring shop owners to report all retail crime. even if they do not expect police to turn up. NorthChamber chief executive Leah McKerrow said a series of meetings with small business owners around the region in the past week revealed many had "lost faith" in reporting crime. McKerrow said Northland ranked low in national statistics for shoplifting, but that could be because it simply was not being reported. "What's been evident from a lot of retailers is their frustration and concern that there's no reason to report these crimes, because nothing seems to be done," she said. "While it might not be immediately needed that a police officer attends, making sure that we record the crime is critically important." McKerrow said, if a crime was not reported, it would not show up in the national database. "If it's not showing up, we don't get resourced for it. Police don't get resourced for it." Having an accurate record also allowed police to identify patterns or spikes in retail crime. A directive from police management - quickly reversed by the incoming commissioner - instructing staff not to investigate shoplifting of items worth less than $500, had sent exactly the wrong message, she said. McKerrow's own message to Northland retailers was simple. "No matter how small the shoplifting is, make sure that you are recording it on the police 105 database," she said. And the fact that you might not hear back doesn't mean it's not useful." McKerrow said the meetings at Kaitāia, Kerikeri, Kaikohe, Whangārei and Dargaville were part of a national roadshow by the government's Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime. The Northland leg was co-ordinated by the Northland Chamber of Commerce to ensure smaller centres were not overlooked, McKerrow said. The aim was to update retailers on law changes already underway and seek feedback on proposals the government was still considering. Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Leah McKerrow. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf McKerrow said some laws relating to retail crime originated in the late-1800s and were no longer fit for purpose. Changes already underway included enabling citizens' arrests , increased penalties for shoplifting and violence against business owners, and bringing in fines for low-level shoplifting. Fines would allow those offenders to be dealt with quickly, without clogging up the courts. However, the topic that "really got retailers excited" was trespass law reform, McKerrow said. Currently, a shopowner could not trespass a person without having their details and, even then, trespass orders were hard to enforce. Also, even if a retailer owned several stores, the person could only be trespassed from one location at a time. "This law will change that, and you won't have to deliver them a trespass notice or have their name. You can just verbally tell them they are trespassed." The government was also considering increasing the maximum trespass period from two years to three and doubling the fines for breaching a trespass order. One future reform the government was considering would allow retailers to protect themselves from offenders, without being charged with an offence themselves. "However, it's difficult to know how you can protect yourself, while keeping yourself safe, so that has got to go through quite a lot more investigation." Bryron Smith, owner of Hunting and Fishing Kerikeri, said the most useful change would be the right to hold onto shoplifters until police arrived. "Being able to apprehend those people in store, or even if they leave the store, so we can play our part to catch them there and then … rather than having to wait for police to try and track them down." Under the current law retailers could only ask a shoplifter to stay. "But I don't think many of them are that keen, to be honest." It was even trickier when youth were involved, he said. Whether staff would try to intervene depended on the situation, because their safety was paramount. Smith said he reported most thefts, but with lower-value items they often made use of social media and the store's high-quality CCTV cameras instead. In the most recent case, staff had posted an image of a man who walked out with a $30 pair of shorts. He rang up the next day and paid, Smith said. "The cameras are super effective. No one likes being on social media when we put it up, especially aunties when they've borrowed her car." The youth behind this 2022 ram raid of a Far North liquor store was caught after leaving his watch, one Croc and a large amount of blood at the scene. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf The biggest impact of retail crime was on staff and their sense of safety. It also took up a lot of time. "When you get them running out the store with armfuls of clothing it can take days to go back through the cameras and figure out what they took." Smith said he could not pass on the cost to customers, because the store's prices were set through the Hunting and Fishing group. "So we pretty much just have to suck it up. The cost certainly doesn't get put on our bait or an item of clothing, it's just a loss." Nationally, Leah McKerrow said the financial impact of retail crime was enormous, with shoplifting alone costing retailers $7.2 million per day or $2.6 billion a year, according to police figures. In many cases that was passed on to consumers, who ended up paying higher prices to cover the costs of lost stock and hiring security guards. Northland district commander Superintendent Matt Srhoj said police knew offending had been under-reported in the past . "Our message to retailers is to ensure they continue reporting to us. It's essential to ensure we have the full picture and can prioritise prevention activities where there are trends emerging." Srhoj said retail crime was taken seriously and police would keep holding offenders to account, especially the more prolific ones. In Whangārei, police had set up a crime prevention unit that worked closely with City Safe and other partners to reduce retail crime. Police beat patrols had also increased significantly in the past year, he said. He urged anyone who saw a crime occurring, or who had immediate concerns for their own or someone else's safety, to call 111. Crimes that had already occurred could be reported online by going to and clicking on 'Make a Report', or by calling 105. McKerrow said what had also emerged from the past week's meetings was a surprising link between retail crime and Northland's infamous road closures. Kaitāia retailers reported that shoplifting had increased since State Highway 1 had reopened at Mangamuka Gorge, allowing through-traffic to once again transit the town. And in Dargaville and Mangawhai, retailers reported an increase in shoplifting and ram raids when State Highway 1 was closed at the Brynderwyn Hills, forcing traffic through coastal towns instead. That suggested a significant proportion of retail crime was opportunistic and committed by out-of-towners. McKerrow said the meetings also discussed the wider issues driving crime, such as the doubling in methamphetamine use in Northland in the past year, the cost-of-living crisis and rising unemployment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
