'I can't speak for every Kiwi' - Police Minister on if NZers feel safer

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he "can't speak for every Kiwi" after being asked whether New Zealanders now feel safer after six months of the new Government.

Over the past several weeks, a string of high-profile robberies targeting jewellery stores have made the headlines. The previous government's handling of ram raids, gang incidents and violent crime was a key part of National's pitch to voters last year.

Mitchell told Q+A today: "There's obviously still a lot more work to do.

"I can't speak for every Kiwi, but what I can say is we're still seeing those aggravated robberies – we've got to get on top of that.

"The feedback that I'm getting from the public in terms of the way that we're dealing with gangs has definitely changed and is definitely positive.

"Even with our retail crime, there's been a 50% increase in foot patrols by police.

"They're back out in the community. They're back out on the streets. They're building relationships with our shopkeepers and our retailers. They're highly visible and I'm getting enormously positive feedback on that."

During the election campaign, Mitchell repeatedly slammed the previous government as being "soft on crime" and said New Zealanders had a "right to feel safe".

He said last year: "New Zealanders have a right to feel safe in their homes, workplaces, and their communities. But that is not the reality under this government which has taken a soft-on-crime approach and has no plan to get on top of this offending.

"Not only are Kiwis feeling less safe, but this increase in crime is hurting the economy and making life tougher for all New Zealanders trying to navigate Labour's cost of living crisis."

Mitchell, a former police officer, said his personal experience informed policy-making.

He explained his thinking when asked about official advice which appeared to disagree with the Government's gang crackdown.

Justice Ministry officials told Mitchell that there was "no evidence that increasing the severity of punishment deters gang membership".

Speaking to Q+A, the Police Minister hesitated to say whether his officials were wrong.

"It's advice – we'll decide as a government. We went to the election, and we got elected on the fact that we're going to clamp down on gangs and violent retail crime and we're gonna get ourselves back on track. We are the Government. We will make the decisions."

He added: "We get all sorts of advice from officials. Some of it we act on. Some of it we accept. Some of it we don't.

"For me personally, a lot of what I do is based on personal experience.

"I had 14 years as a frontline police officer, I saw the gang rapes that were taking place with the gangs. I saw the violence that they were perpetrating in their communities.

"I saw the misery that they peddle with drugs. We don't need justice officials, I don't need justice officials to tell me those things – I know those things."

Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air

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