Ram raid offences nearly double due to police data collection complications

An analysis of ram raid data shows the true number of offences per month is almost double what police first estimate.

Vulnerabilities in the data have led Opposition politicians to call for the introduction of a ram raid offence code, like there are for other basic crime-types, as a way to improve data collection and ensure the extent of ram raid offending is represented accurately to the public.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, a former Police Minister, said he had asked police about whether a specific offence code was necessary, but claims police advised against the idea.

However, he accepted better information on ram raids would be useful.

The debate comes alongside the ongoing political battle about ram raids over the past 12 months, during which there was a more than 500 per cent increase in ram raids occurring compared to previous years, causing tension, particularly in Auckland and Waikato.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins accepts having better information about ram raids would be useful. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Herald last week reported how, because a ram raid was not an individual offence, police data relied on officers using the term “ram raid” while logging an incident, otherwise it could be missed.

As investigations progressed, incidents could be reclassified as ram raids over time which meant it was common that initial data undershot the number of ram raids that had occurred over a certain period.

This was relevant for Opposition politicians who often requested monthly ram raid data at the end of each month in their attempts to prove their claim that the Government wasn’t succeeding in reducing crime.

The Herald sourced monthly ram raid data from June last year to January this year, requested through written parliamentary questions by National police spokesman Mark Mitchell, and compared it with the most up-to-date data police held for the same time period.

Mitchell’s data, which also originated from police, indicated there had been 341 ram raid offences over that eight-month period with an average of 42 per month.

Police’s latest data showed there had actually been almost double the number of ram raid offences with 617 at an average of 77 per month.

A police statement given to the Herald that accompanied the data stressed police’s ram raid offences could include incidents that were related by not actually ram raid-style burglaries, such as receiving stolen property or a person acting suspiciously prior to a ram raid-style burglary.

The Herald requested further comment from police about what work had been done to improve ram raid data collection but a response wasn’t supplied by deadline.

Mitchell believed an offence code should be created as the current data collection method was “not very scientific”.

“It’s probably confusing throughout the country.”

Act police spokesman Chris Baillie echoed that call and said he’d been concerned about the matter for some time.

“It really does surprise me that it’s not a separate code and I don’t think it would be that difficult.

“I’d hate to think statistics could be manipulated.”

A Spark store Takanini after a ram raid. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Green Party justice spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman was opposed to the idea because she was confident existing criminal offences captured the offending.

While she claimed “political fearmongering” concerning ram raids, Ghahraman said investment in collecting more effective data on the causes of crime, particularly young offending, would be more worthwhile.

Asked about the integrity of ram raid statistics, Ghahraman believed there should be oversight such as through the Ministry of Justice to ensure the data was being reported fairly.

Hipkins said creating a new offence code “doesn’t kind of fit” with how police operated its coding system, but he said “better information on ram raids would be useful”.

He was confident police had put more effort into collecting “more rigorous and better” ram raid data.