Thursday, April 19, 2007

Tough talk (touch wood)

Yesterday Upper Hutt police embarked on a crime blitz.

"If you have committed a crime, we are coming to get you. If you are planning to commit a crime, you are going to get arrested," says Acting Upper Hutt Area Commander Inspector Mike Hill.

You talking to me? Are you talking to me ?

This morning a 21 year-old man was stabbed to death right in the centre of town. No mention of an arrest yet.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I so like this 'three strikes you're out' idea.

If Police got tough on petty crime, and were backed up by the courts, as well as the 'three strikes' concept, then within a few years we'd be laying coppers off because there wouldn't be enough work for them.

Most petty criminals wouldn't progress to non-petty ones.

Why are we, NZ, the most incarcerated people in the world after the USA? And wouldn't it just get worse if we adopt a 'three strikes' policy? I worry about this. It's a symptom that's something is basically wrong with New Zealand's society that we breed so much crime, especially when you take into account that as a society we're (still) so much less violent than, say, the USA. This must, proportionally, mean that our petty and 'semi-serious' crime is WAAAAY out of hand, no?

And why is there such a political resistance to dealing with petty crime in NZ? No matter who is in power, apart from the tough talking, no Government in recent history has done anything substantial. We just accept 1-2% per year growth as a success - somehow.

I would like to see 5-10% REDUCTIONS in crime stats, per year for a few years.

I realise some criminal activity will always take place. But when it comes to the point where someone steals 20 times, and gets PD, the signals is just clear enough: the risks are worth it.

Here's an idea: if someone breaks into your house and steals $10,000 worth of stuff, they have to go to prison for twice the amount of time it took for the average person to earn that money, after tax.

Yeah, I like that.

Hehehe.

-- belt ( who hasn't been a victim of crime for many years now, thanks to living in better neighbourhoods, security precautions and having people home most of the time, but still remembers the 8 break ins and 2 thefts in a 5 year period earlier in life)

(captcha: dwcgappq - come on! that's just ridiculous!)

Anonymous said...

It looks like Upper Hutt is going to be off limits for scumbags. I welcome the same police approach in our neighbourhood. It will make it safer and more secure. I welcome any police officer asking questions to check out who is roaming around. I welcome the police here so that we can feel safe and secure within our community.