Retailers across NZ are criticising government-funded security measures as ‘just a deterrent, not a solution’ to tackling the surge in retail crime. Video / NZ Herald
The Government is pumping another $11 million into a scheme to help businesses purchase fog cannons as the latest data shows an increase in ram raids over the past month.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made the announcement as crime looks to become a key issue ahead of the general election in October amid reports of businesses closing and owners fearing death, while Opposition parties demand stronger penalties for offenders.
This Government’s response to the increasing numbers of ram raids and aggravated burglaries last year largely consisted of two programmes providing security measures to small business owners and expanding multi-agency efforts to identify young offenders within 24 hours of the offence in areas like Auckland and Hamilton.
Hipkins said on Thursday he would be attending a police graduation that would achieve the goal of 1800 new police officers increasing the ratio of police to general population to 1 to 480 compared to 1 to 544 when Labour took office in 2017.
The retail crime spike was “utterly unacceptable”, Hipkins said yesterday at his post-cabinet press conference.
He said there was other work going on in this area which he hoped to be able to announce soon.
Police Minister Ginny Andersen said yesterday the scheme was very popular, with already 582 fog cannons installed since February and 1164 applications approved.
“I’ve seen first-hand the difference fog cannons are making. Not only do they help prevent crime, but they also give retailers peace of mind.”
“Fog cannons can help deter ram raids and burglary and reduce the risk of people being harmed,” the Police Minister said. Photo / Supplied
The Government had also expanded a circuit breaker programme targeting recidivist child offenders into Hamilton, Christchurch and Auckland City while working towards a target of 1800 more police officers on the front line.
“Fog cannons can help deter ram raids and burglary and reduce the risk of people being harmed,” Andersen said.
“The dense cloud of fog is highly disorienting and prevents attackers from targeting cash, stock, or workers.
“Small retailers have told me the scheme is working well. For many small retailers, the upfront cost of a fog cannon is beyond their budget.”
Speaking on the increase in demand for fog cannons, Hipkins said he wanted to acknowledge the level of concern.
There was also an unrelenting focus on the causes of this crime.
Hipkins said while the spike in crime was not as high as last year it was still at an “unacceptable level”.
He said those preventative programmes were effective but they would take time to have their full impacts. In the meantime it was important to support affected businesses.
Police advice on fog cannons showed those premises that had them installed were less likely than those without them to be targeted by burglary, Hipkins said.
Andersen recently told the Herald she regularly had meetings with a variety of retail store owners to discuss their experiences to get direct feedback on how the Government could continue supporting them.
Ram raids peaked in August last year when 116 were recorded. They declined steadily to 44 in Feburary, which is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic years when figures rarely rose above 20 a month.
The latest figures to April show a small increase to 68 - more than twice a day.
The Retail Crime Prevention Programme was set up last year amid a dramatic post-pandemic spike in ram raids.
The Government also had a fog cannon subsidy, managed through MBIE.
The programmes have assisted hundreds of stores that were a victim of a ram raid or aggravated robbery to purchase items including fog cannons, security sirens, alarms, CCTV systems or system upgrades, bollards or similar security measures, roller doors, and other interventions that include improved lighting/strengthened windows.
