Bay burglaries soar above national average

In Hawke's Bay, burglaries during mid-winter have risen well above 300 a month.

Burglaries in Hawke's Bay are rocketing ahead of national trends, according to figures released by Statistics New Zealand.

The figures show that nationally there were 11.9 per cent more burglaries in July than there were in July 2015.

But in Hawke's Bay, with burglaries mid-winter having risen well above 300 a month, burglaries in the area are running about 18 per cent more than at the same time last year.

They are the biggest monthly tallies since a new recording regime was introduced two years ago.

The figures show police nationally recorded 11,171 more victimisations in July than in the same period last year, for a 2.3 per cent increase, which Minister of Police Judith Collins said was primarily caused by the growing number of burglaries.

Auckland City was the only police district to record a reduction in its burglary rate.

The minister said greater priority for residential burglary investigation announced this week "shows that police recognise the significant impact that burglary has on individuals, families and communities, and that they are committed to reducing this type of crime and increasing resolution rates".

Labour Party and Opposition leader Andrew Little claims the National Government has let down the community by cutting police frontline numbers after promises of more.

"John Key has broken his own 2008 election promise to have one police officer for every 500 people," he said. "There is now one police officer to every 526 people."

"Police are desperately under-resourced and have been told there will be no staffing increases until 2020," he said.

Napier MP and Labour spokesman on police, Stuart Nash, was unable to be contacted for comment last night.