Who to believe?

Kia Ora,

Post the Christchurch earthquake there were comments from the police that crime had dropped & even articles in the local media quoting that.

There was also claims by the police that looting was not widespread on the day of the wee shake.

This is all despite anecdotal evidence pointing to the opposite.

In the last few weeks the truth has come to light.

First there have been on going reports of those committing crimes on the day of the earthquake. It far outweighs the number originally quoted.

Then about a week ago a small article appeared saying burglaries in the three weeks following the earthquake had jumped 22% as empty homes had been targeted in particular. A few days later another article appeared about a recent burglary of a house where the occupants go elsewhere on the nights we experience a number of aftershocks.
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Now the fault here is not the police officer on the street, but those in command who rely on figures.

To enhance those figures the police when you ring will tend not to respond to suspicious activity as in the past(despite been encouraged too) or if you can not identify the people involved. It is becoming like Hong Kong where it used to be the unwritten rule that if they couldn't solve it within 48 hours they moved on to next crime.
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I know from talking to experienced police officers they are very frustrated on no longer been allowed to police which means doing things that are not quantifiable. I suspect this all comes back to KPI's(Key Point Indicator) which have no place in a service such as policing or security. In fact I have yet to see a KPI in a business sense which actually reflects the reality on the shop floor. They actually hamper productivity not enhance it.

In the last few days a recntly retired experienced police officer has come to national attention for slamming the way road policing is carried out. Again his comments reflect what people feel that as opposed to targetting the real traffic problems they are targetting the areas which bump up the numbers & the revenue.

Though in saying that some of those targetted small issues just point to the chronically bad driving behaviour in this country.
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So who do you believe?

For me it is not those who are out of touch but those on the ground & my own gut feeling. Always been correct compared to the waffle that comes from ivory towers.

Crime is actually ballooning out of control in the country.

Another recent comment is the use of Mozart here in central Christchurch has impacted on crime. A reporter thought he would test this to be immediately challenged to hand over his lunch then witness a tussle between some teens.

For myself just yesterday in central Christchurch whilst talking to a retailer a person came up to purchase some goods then yelled to a woman to give him the keys to her car. His comments were he was there bringing in his mate to uplift his medication(looking at the person indicated it didn't take an Einstein to work out he was off his tree & his medication was obviously methadone) then to the woman he took the keys off "got to get them as she is a Tea leaf(cockney for thief) & if she gets caught like normal then won't be able to get home." She also showed signs of drug dependency & the store she went into was warned.

There might be less trouble with teens who hate the music so don't hang around, but actual crime is the same. Just there are less people in the centre of the city since the wee shake.

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