The Front Page: Road rage, random stabbings, ram-raids – Why does NZ feel so unsafe at the moment?

There are growing concerns that New Zealand is not as safe as it once was. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Ask the average New Zealander on the street, and they’ll likely tell you they don’t feel as safe as they once did.

Random stabbings, ram-raids, road rage, gang activity and disorderly behaviour have dominated our headlines over the last 12 months, creating a sense that crime is out of control.

Politicians have responded with scathing criticism, accusing the Government of being too soft on crime.

But does the perception match reality? Is crime really out of control? And is our justice system too soft on perpetrators?

Greg Newbold, Emeritus Professor of criminology from Canterbury University, has the unique perspective of having experienced the justice system first-hand as a prisoner, followed by decades of academic analysis.

Speaking to The Front Page podcast, he says it’s important to put the current focus on crime into a historical perspective.

He notes that fears about youth criminal behaviour are nothing new – and have in the past led to some remarkable legal changes.

“I’ve been a criminologist for 30 years, and one issue that constantly comes up is people saying, ‘We used to feel secure, but we don’t feel secure now’,” starts Newbold.

“It sounds a little bit like saying ‘the good old days’. But in actual fact, people have always felt insecure about crime. Back in 1949, the election was based on a fear of crime and led to the reintroduction of capital punishment because people were frightened crime was out of control.

“Then, in the 1950s, there was the delinquency problem. People didn’t feel secure because the kids were going rampant. People wondered: ‘What’s happened to the young people of today?’ The election of 1960 was based on that fear. So in actual fact, there’s always been a fear of crime, and it’s largely based on media attention.”

Despite this, Newbold says it is worrying to see this sharp increase in offences primarily committed by young males.

“They are normally people who come from disconnected families, dysfunctional families and families who have economic and social problems themselves,” he says.

The challenge, Newbold says, is that kids from these types of families often return to crime time and again unless something changes.

“If you have a kid from a dysfunctional family who gets a prison sentence and then doesn’t get much in the way of visits or support from the family, and then moves straight back into the toxic criminal environment that they came from, they’re much more likely to re-offend than someone like me or other middle-class kids who from good families.”

So, how could Newbold shake free of his criminal past after a seven-year stint in prison? What can be done about the youth crime issue across the country? Are National’s youth military academies really such a bad idea? And how do you go about helping families stuck in a cycle improve?

Listen to today’s episode of The Front Page podcast to hear Newbold share insights from his unique perspective of having experienced the justice system first-hand and having studied it.