Stopping Crime!

Kia Ora,

Recently the New Zealand Police Commissioner made a submission to a select committee that police were "trying to stop crime rather than just prosecuting" or words to that effect.

He has come under attack for that statement from a group known as the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

I don't disagree with the commissioner as to that is what police should be doing.

Problem is that is no longer what they do. At least here in Christchurch & from what I have seen elsewhere.

What I do know is many experienced police officers are frustrated that they can no longer police & stop crime before it happens. Their performance is more rated in the cities at least by amount of tickets & arrests.

Local Police used to always encourage us in security to call in any suspicious activity, as we were their eyes & ears. It also impacted on the security of neighbourhoods & cut down on the paper work the police had to carryout.
Crime Prevention in America
Try calling in suspicious activity these days & it is more like you are the criminal.

Those taking the calls are not police officers & so do not often realize what you are seeing is suspicious. People know their own area & what is out of place.

Security should(but many don't) get in tune with their surroundings & note what is happening. If this is done properly then any new staff can by reading reports know what is out of place.
Crime Prevention (Criminal Justice Series)
So the Commissioner is either completely out of touch in how his department is currently working or there is a breakdown in how the police should be operating.

But talking to police on the street it appears that the police are applying the business measuring tool of KPI's which as I have said before I have never seen work in business little lone in a service.

In fact it was seeing this happening when I entered the industry & the fact security companies told their staff to ignore crime or suspicious activity(which you can understand from a business perspective but not a moral or security one) that the 0900 Suspicious idea spawned from.
Handbook of Loss Prevention and Crime Prevention, Fourth Edition
The problem now is crime is so out of control that people just don't report it & the police are now overwhelmed with their workload(especially the paper work) & often don't get the chance to stop crime before it happens. In fact they often don't get to crime after it happens as people that have been burgled often tell you.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz