Authorised Speech to Neighbourhood Support AGM - At Wellington City Council Chambers

Thank you for inviting me to address today's Neighbourhood Support AGM.

This AGM is the perfect occasion for us all to consider ways to make our communities safer.

Of all the crimes committed in your neighbourhoods, burglary is bound to be the most common. Drug abuse and the distribution of illegal drugs is also all to common in our communities.

Today, I'm pleased to share my thoughts with your on how we can aid the Police to meet its responsibility to the community - to crack down on such crimes.

Maintaining Law and Order, in my view can be placed into two camps. Reactionary enforcement and pro-active policing.

Neighbourhood Support's role is similarly one of being proactive in our communities, encouraging people to network, to know our neighbours, to be forever alert to what occurs in our community, to establish effective watch groups that create a more secure environment for law abiding residents.

There is also a reactionary role that every Neighbourhood Support person should advocate. And that role is simple: where you see suspicious behaviour, alert the Police. In many ways Neighbourhood Support is the eyes and ears of the Police. And there lies a symbiotic relationship that is essential in making New Zealand a safer place.

Burglary, I believe, sits at the centre of the criminal culture. Burglary is often committed so criminals can raise money for drugs. Gang involvement is often involved.

Gang control in the dealing and distribution of cannabis is organised in New Zealand. The distribution of methamphetamine is also controlled and peddled by gangs and organised criminal elements.

The insidious criminal culture that targets youths and youngsters as users of drugs and then ropes them in as distributors presents an insight into the sick, selfish minds of these criminals. Once a youngster is hooked, whether this be from drug addiction or social addiction, they are well on their way to living a life of crime.

It is due to this insidious criminal element, that I am fervently opposed to the decriminalising of cannabis.

I do however have concerns that if someone who has a conviction for experimenting with a smoke of cannabis has that conviction riding on their back for the rest of their lives. It effects their job prospects and prevents them from entering the United States of America. We ought to look at this.

But it is wrong to take the criminality out of what these gangs do throughout this country.

All of us should face up to that fact.

It may be trendy for some to gather at parties, to huddle in a corner to share a joint. Those attending posh parties ought to listen to this as well. Every person who takes part in this, or turns a blind eye, is supporting the repugnant organised criminal, who through organised gang involvement, controls the cultivation, distribution, and social deprivation that revolves around this country's cannabis culture. Each drag on a joint supports a history of violence, a history of killings, of lost ambition, of pain that has occurred in the name of cannabis and other drugs.

Like you I know the signs are there in our communities. We are not blind to it.

Yes, Burglary is indeed the nucleus of the criminal culture. It goes hand in hand with drug abuse.

Graffiti stained neighbourhoods offer a clear signal to all who venture within them that this is the patch of youth gangs and that an established criminal element exists. Behind the shadows lurk layers of criminal activity. Some gangs are disorganised. Some are sophisticated. The gang kingpins often approach their activities in a businesslike manner.

They sit back like the generals of crime. Young people are exploited. They are persuaded to burgle. Good people are made victims. Such is the circle of crime the Police are charged with cracking.

Add to this the career criminals who weighs up the penalties and risks of being caught compared to how much they can earn from burglary.

I must say, for too long, that equation favoured the criminal.

The Government has put into practice plans that target burglary, neighbourhood, and youth crime.

We are providing Police with the tools to crack down on crime. And I am encouraged to see that the number of burglaries is reducing. The latest indications are that the Police are resolving more burglary crimes.

Additional to this, I am encouraged that Police are cracking down on truants.

Successful operations of this nature in Counties/Manukau have produced results - not only in getting these kids back to school, but also in reducing daytime burglaries.

The Police are being resourced to expand LET teams, and to increase the INTEL capabilities. Programmes like these, and the computer MAP based analytical crime fighting tool are examples of how the Government is providing Police with the necessary tools to crack down on crime.

Here is some detail of our commitment.

· Crime Mapping Technology has been given a $1.341 million dollar boost over this financial year with a further $4.725 million over the following three years.
· Preventing repeat victimisation - target hardening pilot policy has received $280,000 this year with a further 960,000 dollars over the following three years.
· Funds to the tune of $2.51 million this year provide an additional three LET teams in the greater Auckland region, with an additional $7.593 million over the following three years. It is imperative that Police National Headquarters, who have been resourced by Government to increase the number of LET teams, do so as soon as possible.
· Resources for enhanced DNA testing add to $338,000 for this current year, followed by $902,000 over the next three years.
· These programmes, add to a total fiscal value of $4.469 million this year with an additional $14.117 million for the following three years.

It is encouraging that police are also using DNA science more and more to solve crime. DNA is not solely used to catch criminals of a violent nature but also burglars.

The Government also plans to ensure that Police are further able to take advantage of scientific advancements in the area of DNA testing. This debate is likely to broaden in the coming months.

Criminals have been given a stern message. That is that this Government will not tolerate burglary. We will not tolerate the advance of the criminal culture.

We have followed up that message with action.

The Police Commissioner knows that this Government expects police to respond to burglary complaints within 24 hours. In this year's budget we backed this expectation up by contracting Police to respond to burglary within that time period.

We have moved to equip Police with the tools necessary for them to carry out this expectation and requirement.

Compare this to the past National government's stance on burglary. All of you will know how it was commonplace for Police to take up to five days to respond to a burglary. Under National burglary was a low priority crime.

I said then that this was not good enough. And in gaining office I told the Police Commissioner of our expectations. I must say the Police are meeting that expectation and performing well.

I announced last month that, on average, it now takes Police seven hours 11 minutes to respond to a burglary. You will have to agree that is an improvement.

Now, when scene-of-crime-officers arrive at a burglary it is a hot trail.

Do you ask why this Government places such a high priority on burglary? Consider the harm it causes.

There are those, as you all know, who live in our communities, who steal from our communities. They steal not only material goods, but also the pride and security of those that the figures title "Burglary Victims".

All of us in this room will have personal knowledge of what it feels like to be a burglary victim. If not directly, then as a witness to a loved one who has had the sanctity of their home taken from them. They are violated, they are invaded, and they sometimes struggle to recover from the lingering fear that an intruder can enter their homes at any time and take what they wish.

Simply, burglary makes victims of more New Zealanders than any other crime. Fact.

Burglary also provides criminals with experience that enables them to perpetrate other serious crimes and acts of violence.

Serial rapists Joseph Thompson and Malcolm Rewa, offence after rape offence worked alone, stalked, entered their victims homes with ease, viciously attacked their victims, violated their victims, then escaped from the crime scene aided by a premeditated plan.

Their ability to escape being caught for so long was aided by a history of being career burglars.

Burglary is the nucleus of the criminal culture.

For reasons such as I have outlined here this morning, this Government takes burglary very seriously.

Your role as Neighbourhood Support representatives can ensure that our communities aid Police and Government to crack down on crime.

We all now that it is certainly worth the effort.

You are all experts in your field. You know the difficulties that face you in your work as Neighbourhood Support representatives. This AGM can aid us all if it considers how we can all focus on a common purpose.

This year, there has been much publicity about burglary.

This is intentional. I want criminals to know, that no longer can they go about their selfish, dishonest and disarming ways with a smug assurance that the Police will not be hot on their heels.

I am keen, as Minister of Police to encourage forthright debate on how the Police can better meet their responsibility to the Government and the greater community.

We must focus on the job at hand. But we must also always be vigilant in developing ways that will better serve today's community to ensure that our families and loved ones are safe in their homes and that tomorrow's New Zealand is a better place.

I look forward to hearing of the direction that this AGM heralds. Thank you.