Burglars have figured out they can get away with it

We should respond to spiking burglary rates with a Three Strikes for Burglary law, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The 18% spike in burglary shows that burglars are learning that their enterprise is low-risk and high-reward,” says Mr Seymour.

“The current weak sentencing means there’s little motivation for people to report burglaries, and little reason for police to give them priority. Even if more burglaries were solved, it wouldn’t do much for prevention – few convictions result in jail time, and even when they do, it’s usually only for a few months. This leniency is little comfort for the victims.

“It’s a small group of reoffenders that are committing the vast majority of burglaries. That’s who we need to target. Under a Three Strikes system, a third conviction would mean three years in jail – it’s so simple even a burglar could understand it.

“I tabled a Three Strikes for Burglary bill in parliament earlier this year, but MPs from both sides of the House vetoed even debating it.

“A Three Strikes rule would work in two ways: first, it would change incentives by turning burglary into a high-risk enterprise, but more importantly, it would take the career criminals off the streets. They would discover that it’s very difficult to commit a burglary from a prison cell.”

ENDS

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