Minister for Justice Paul Goldsmith speaks to media about a new citizens' arrest initiative at the RK Superette in Mt Roskill, Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
The Government has announced plans to ease laws around citizens’ arrests.
Currently, they can only occur between 9pm and 6am, for crimes with a maximum punishment of at least three years in prison.
The changes mean people can intervene and stop any offence at any time of the day, by using restraints and “reasonable” force.
Retail crime costs New Zealand retailers an estimated $2.6 billion each year.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says retail crime rose 85% between 2019 and 2023, including a 91% increase in victimisations relating to theft.
On what reasonable force would look like, he said stopping someone from moving or leaving was the point of what they were talking about.
“Not necessarily a headlock, it’s just holding someone steady,” he said.
New Zealand has around 230,000 people working in retail, which is about 9% of our workforce.
Retail NZ says aggression, violence, and other retail crimes are getting worse and criminals are becoming increasingly organised and brazen, putting employees and customers at risk.
But, chief executive officer Carolyn Young, who is also a part of the Ministerial Advisory Group on retail crime, told The Front Page she was surprised at the announcement.
“We haven’t had any inquiries from members about how they would go about doing it and any interest from people doing those citizens’ arrests.
“Our concern is that if you do that, you’re going to elevate the level of violence that we see, and you’re going to elevate the level of weaponry that we’re going to see in-store and the type of things that criminals and offenders are doing is going to change and pivot to counteract the potential changes that the minister announced.
" When you’ve got an offender in store that’s wanting to harm, you don’t know what they might have concealed on their body. You don’t know their state of mind. You don’t know if they’re under the influence of drugs or they’ve got some medication they’re taking.
" The risk you’re taking is that you’re engaging with them in a confrontational way in which they could react and respond quite violently and you could be harmed and from our perspective, someone’s life is worth infinitely more than any cost of goods,” she said.
Goldsmith’s office has said police have been consulted on these proposals.
“Naturally, there are a range of opinions. However, I believe there is only one member who has expressed concerns.”
Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s criticising the $3.6 million spent on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas that are “already dismissed as dangerous by police”.
The Ministerial Advisory Group was announced last September, with ministers McKee and Goldsmith’s commitment to ensure there are 20,000 fewer victims of violent crime by 2029.
Labour’s police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen told The Front Page these ideas about citizens’ arrests came across her desk from the chairman, Sunny Kaushal, when she was Police Minister.
“So these are the same things he told me 18 months ago. So the fact that the Government paid $3.6m for the same ideas that were offered for free to our Government seems ludicrous and a waste of money.
" We took advice from police and thought it was unsafe. For some reason, this Government has paid $3.6m for it and intends to make it into law.
“I really worry that someone could be seriously injured or even lose their life,” she said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about citizen’s arrest laws and how they could change.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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