Get-tough policy to hit burglars

By DARREL MAGER

Burglars beware, the new cabinet ministers responsible for law and order are gunning for you.

Incoming Police Minister George Hawkins and Justice Minister Phil Goff have both vowed that they will give priority to the crime which affects New Zealanders the most - but police are worst at solving - after being sworn in today.

Mr Hawkins said police would be ordered to tackle burglaries: "It is a serious crime and it's got to be treated as such. It impacts so heavily on ordinary people and they've had enough of it."

Mr Goff said achieving better burglary arrest rates would be at the centre of the Coalition Government's justice policy.

There were more than 78,500 burglaries reported in the 12 months from June 30 last year, but just 11 per cent were solved.

Both ministers want judges to hand down tougher sentences for repeat offenders, particularly burglars.

Mr Hawkins said: "Of the few burglars that do get caught, a third get a monetary punishment if found guilty, a third get a community sentence and a third get a prison sentence, which is on average less than a year.

"Burglars are finding their lifestyle reasonably profitable and we want to bring that to a halt."

He said he would not accept stretched resources as an excuse for a poor police response to burglaries, although he would like to see police better financed and staffed.

"But at the end of the day police need to work smarter and more efficiently, no matter how many officers they have."

The president of the Police Association, Greg O'Connor, agreed that police had to pay more attention to burglaries but that Mr Hawkins had to be careful that, in diverting resources, policing of other crimes did not suffer.