Crime: Labour's Growth Industry
PoliceThe way crime soared between 1984 and 1990 makes a joke of Labour's claim "now criminals know they can get away with it", Police Minister Clem Simich said today.
The Minister released a graph showing the steady growth in crime under the last Labour Government, and the resulting decline under National.
"It's an undeniable fact: under Labour crime went up, and under National it has gone steadily down," Mr Simich said.
"Through failed social policies and economic incompetence, Labour achieved an explosion in crime. The momentum was so dramatic it took National 12 months to bring it under control. And since then the crime rate has steadily declined."
Latest crime statistics released on Friday showed a 2.5% reduction in recorded crime in the year to December 1998, with a 3.3% fall in the crime rate (recorded offences per head of population).
"New Zealanders have less chance now of being a victim of crime than for many years. They will also have more Police than ever before, with almost 7000 officers by next year."
"They make all these noises about resourcing yet their vague spending priorities don't include extra Police."
"If anyone contributed to making crime a profitable industry in this country it's the Labour Party," he said.