INDEPENDENT NEWS

Government needs to get real on crime

Published: Fri 2 Mar 2018 12:09 PM
2 March 2018
Government needs to get real on crime
Quite how the Government thinks it can reduce the prison population without reducing serious crime is beyond comprehension, National’s Justice spokesperson Amy Adams says.
“The Government is deluded at best and soft at worst if it thinks that it doesn’t need a crime reduction target in order to reduce the prison population.
“People aren’t sent to prison for the hell of it. There is a very high threshold – a person has to have committed a very serious crime or be a repeat offender to end up in prison.
“So it was startling to hear the Chief Executives of both the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections yesterday admit that their agencies are no longer working towards the previous Government’s target of 10,000 fewer serious crimes by 2021.
“Instead, they are now being instructed by the new Government to focus only on a target of reducing the prison population by 30 per cent over 15 years.
“In light of the Justice Minister’s statements to media in the weekend and the Prime Minister’s comments in the House this week, it appears the Government’s approach to meeting its target may revolve simply around loosening bail, sentencing and parole laws which could place the community at real risk.
“Surely success must be measured by there being fewer crimes and fewer victims. But it seems the Government thinks it’s more important that there are fewer people in prison, regardless of how serious their crimes may be.
“Letting serious criminals out of prison so that the Government can boast about meeting its target will be of no comfort to the victims that these offenders will surely rack up when they’re let loose on the public.”
ends

Next in New Zealand politics

One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track
By: New Zealand Government
GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
By: New Zealand Government
New Zealand Provides Further Humanitarian Support To Gaza And The West Bank
By: New Zealand Government
High Court Judge Appointed
By: New Zealand Government
Lobbyists Riding Shotgun With Coalition Government
By: New Zealand Labour Party
Say Hello To NZ’s Most Anti-environment Government In Decades
By: Green Party
Fast Track Is Outright Assault On Environment
By: Forest And Bird
Coalition Sticking Plasters Over New Zealand’s Infrastructure Crisis
By: New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
A Fast Track To A More Sure-footed Future
By: Infrastructure NZ
GPS 2024: New $500 Million Pothole Prevention Fund
By: New Zealand Government
GPS 2024: 15 New Roads Of National Significance
By: New Zealand Government
GPS 2024: Keeping New Zealanders Safer On Our Roads
By: New Zealand Government
GPS 2024: Investing In Reliable Public Transport
By: New Zealand Government
View as: DESKTOP | MOBILE © Scoop Media