KEY POINTS:
Rewards offered for the apprehension of criminals are predicated on the idea that fear can be overcome with anonymity and apathy overwhelmed by the prospect of financial gain. It has been proved a successful formula down through the years and today is gaining currency in many communities worldwide in schemes such as Crimestoppers. In this country, however, it has thrown up a quirk. In the past five years, $800,000 has been offered in reward money but not a cent has been paid.
The police seem somewhat sensitive about this. They have no need to be. Their failure to pay out reward money does not indicate they are somehow shortchanging informants or that offering rewards is a waste of time. Rather, it suggests the police, quite rightly, hand over reward money only when information they have been given has been pivotal in achieving a successful prosecution. Some information can be helpful to them but limited in its impact. Much further police work may have been required to get that prosecution.
Certainly it would be wrong to interpret the failure to pay out reward money as somehow indicating that the practice serves no purpose in this country. Similarly, criticism that the police use the device quite cynically is misplaced. Undoubtedly, it is tempting for them to use reward announcements as an easy means of getting media coverage for a case forgotten by the public. There may even be the incentive of being seen to be doing something to solve a crime in a way that may placate both the public and senior police management. But such criticism overlooks the potential value of such exercises. Anything that might prick a conscience and bring the police closer to solving a crime is obviously beneficial.
If there is a problem in New Zealand, it is probably that there is too little serious unsolved crime to warrant big rewards. In that respect, the $300,000 offered for information leading to the return of military medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, stolen from the Waiouru Army Museum in December and a conviction of those responsible is unusual. The reward, the largest in New Zealand history, was put up not by the police but by British medals collector Lord Michael Ashcroft and an anonymous New Zealand businessman.
The more common fare is $50,000 to $75,000 offered by the police for information leading to prosecution in murder cases, such as that of Kayo Matsuzawa, who was killed in Auckland 10 years ago. That sum is relatively small, especially for criminals who risk being ostracised or worse if they become narks. Their lives must undergo an upheaval, probably involving a shift to another part of the country or to Australia. Even a reward as large as $300,000 may not be enough to bring forward someone from the criminal world, the most obvious source of information for a robbery as highly organised as that of the Army Museum.
In circumstances such as the money being offered for the military medals, the police remain in control of the reward. That may seem odd because they are not putting up the substantial sum. It is the right course, however. The police are in charge of the investigation and only they know the significance of a piece of information.
Over the past five years, they have not been convinced that reward money should be paid out. That is not an indictment of either them or the practice. Financial incentives loosen lips and will always have a role in the fight against crime. The police, however, are warranted in demanding crucial information before they open their wallets.
