KEY POINTS:
Violent crime has climbed around the country, fuelled by a surge in reporting of family violence.
Police say an 11.1 per cent increase in violence offences in the year to June is due almost entirely to family violence, which recorded a 29 per cent rise in the same period.
National crime statistics released yesterday show a total of 58,761 violence offences recorded in the year, up from 52,883 the previous year.
But Assistant Police Commissioner Grant Nicholls said the increase in recorded family violence did not necessarily equate to an increase in offending, but was rather the result of new mandatory training for front-line officers on investigating and detecting the problem, and decreased tolerance of the crime in the community.
"Many people may now be reporting family violence offences to police which in the past may not have come to our attention at all."
Agencies working in the area agree that the statistics likely reflect increased awareness and reporting of family violence.
"Unfortunately, it's going to look worse before it gets better," said Jane Drumm, executive director of Preventing Violence in the Home.
Ms Drumm said police had previously believed they were being informed of only 18 per cent of family violence incidents that were occurring, so the increase was heartening from that perspective.
"To us, who work in the field, this is a really good sign that actually the real prevalence is starting to be reported and coming out, and that means that people can get the assistance they need."
Heather Henare of the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges also believed awareness of family violence had improved and said one of the contributing factors was the "It's Not OK" advertising campaign.
But Ms Henare said the fact the country still had so many reported incidents of family violence was "a national shame".
The statistics showed increases in assaults on children, which Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said was likely a flow-on effect from increased reporting of family violence.
Dr Kiro said most child abuse happened in the home and protocols introduced in the last two years meant police were now more likely to notify Child, Youth and Family of at-risk children at family violence callouts.
She said children were often "invisible victims" of family violence and high levels of violence against them had been under-reported.
More than 1300 assaults on children under 14 were recorded in the year to June, up from less than 1000 the previous year.
Police Minister Annette King said the figures showed family violence remained a scourge, but police deserved much credit for uncovering the level of the problem.
She also praised the fact they had resolved nearly 10,000 offences of all types in the past year and said part of the reason was a 2500 staff increase.
But National Party leader John Key criticised the Government for claiming it was on top of violent crime, saying the statistics had made an "unrelenting climb" every year that Labour was in power.
In addition to the increase in violence offences, the statistics showed an 5.9 per cent rise in drugs and anti-social offences.
Methamphetamine offences dropped 18 per cent from their peak two years ago, while dishonesty offences - which make up 52 per cent of all offences - fell 5 per cent.
Graffiti and tagging was deemed responsible for an increase in property damage offences in most districts.
MAIN CHANGES
* Violence: Up 11.1%
* Family violence: Up 29%
* Drugs/anti-social: Up 5.9%
* Dishonesty offences: Down 5%
IN YOUR REGION
AUCKLAND AND WAITEMATA
Auckland mirrored the rest of the country in terms of violent crime, experiencing an increase in recorded offences from 4893 in 2006/07 to 5333 in 2007/08.
The number of drugs and anti-social offences also grew, while dishonesty offences dropped, following the same pattern in Waitemata, where overall crime showed a 1 per cent reduction when population growth was taken into account.
Violent crime in Waitemata rose 4 per cent, significantly less than the national average of 11.1 per cent.
Waitemata district commander Acting Superintendent John Kelly said much of the violence was driven by alcohol and to a certain extent drugs, but it was encouraging to see women reporting family violence in greater numbers than ever before.
COUNTIES-MANUKAU
Violence offences climbed sharply in Counties-Manukau, from 7889 in 2006/07 to 9383 in 2007/08, while the overall crime figure remained almost the same as the previous year.
Homicides, abductions, robberies, assaults, intimidation and threats all rose, with the district showing a particularly high rise in serious assaults.
WAIKATO
Waikato police celebrated crime reductions in several areas, including a 4.6 per cent drop in residential burglaries and a 17 per cent drop in non-residential burglaries.
In Hamilton, area commander Inspector Rob Lindsay said work done with the city council and other agencies had contributed to a 30 per cent reduction in overall crime.
However, violence remained an area of concern in the Waikato, where 297 more incidents were reported than in the previous year.
CANTERBURY
Canterbury's crime decreased slightly when population growth was taken into account, and violence offences grew by only 2 per cent, or 9 per cent less than the national average.
