Police data provided to the National Party shows ram-raid burglaries have increased by 55 per cent since February.
There were 44 such incidents reported in February, 57 in March, and 68 in April.
National police spokesperson Mark Mitchell says the Labour Government’s only answer to ram-raids is to “shovel more fog cannons out the door instead of actually stopping the criminals who are destroying businesses and traumatising workers”.
“Not only does this show Labour’s claims that ram-raids are going down were utterly baseless, but it also shows their attempts to thwart youth offending is not working.
“Criminals are quickly adapting their tactics to new countermeasures.
“Until this Government starts getting tougher on crime, simply throwing millions of dollars at fog cannons will not solve the problem.”
Mitchell says the Government’s “soft-on-crime approach” is devastating for victims, but also hurts the economy and makes life tougher for all New Zealanders.
“When retail businesses are considering closing down and are scared to invest because they are almost expecting to be ram-raided, that is hurting New Zealand’s productivity.
“Sadly, that has become a reality under this soft-on-crime Government.
“Labour’s only target in law and order has been to reduce the prison population by 30 per cent.
“National has released a comprehensive policy to tackle the tsunami of retail offending largely driven by youths.”
Mitchell says if National is elected to Government at this year’s general election on October 14 it will introduce a Young Serious Offender (YSO) category to increase consequences for repeat offenders and establish Young Offender Military Academies where youths can be sent for up to 12 months for intensive rehabilitation.
It will also give police greater powers to tackle the criminal gangs recruiting young people into a life of crime and invest in community organisations to work with YSOs and support their families.
