“… and may be a consequence of increased proactive police activity…”

Note the ‘may’. This gives you a good clue that the data does not offer proof, only that it might be a factor. Equally, it might not be, either.

Of course try telling that to all the righties here who see truth as being secondary to ideology.

The overall increase in recorded violent crime is however supported by ACC claim statistics. Much of the increase in violence, appears to be family violence related, and may be a consequence of increased proactive police activity to combat domestic violence.

http://www.police.govt.nz/resources/2006/axist/understanding-crime-statistics-movement.pdf

While I generally agree with your last comment (especially the last paragraph) it’s worth noting that we should examine the effects of drugs in combination – the chemical mix as you put it.

For example while it seems to be true that BZP doesn’t really do much damage on it’s own, it does allow users to stay up longer and drink more which as we know brings with it a whole raft of physical, mental, and social issues.

There’s no question in my mind which of the two is the most harmful substance, but that doesn’t tell the whole story unless they’re only used in isolation.

Households have landlines.

And are you going to use the only phone in the house to report the guy with the bat while the guy with the bat is standing over the phone? Cell phones allow the victim to get away and hide and then call the police while land lines have a tendency to put the victim back in harms way.

Incidentally, when phones came into houses in the 1950 and 60s, that also led to an increase in reporting.

Phil. I’m not saying that all criminal acts are by the socially deprived or would disappear if poverty was eliminated but it would be foolish to dismiss the huge role that poverty plays in causing crime.

You’ll get no argument from me that alcohol abuse is a disaster in this country.

I’ve been unable to find a source for this, can you give us a hint? It passes the sniff test for me, but I’d be surprised if the police actually cited it as a reason for more reporting.

(A source would also shut up people like 2DD who think you’ve made it up

L

Ah! So all those tax-avoiding “rich pricks” are really just socially deprived and need our sympathy, not our vitriol. Thanks for clearing that up Steve!

“The other reason is that domestic violence is becoming less acceptable in our communities and more highly reported.”

Interestingly, this can only account for the spike in reporting in ’07. The clear upward trend in your second graph prior to “it’s not ok” and related campaigns must therefore be increased incidence.

In my experience the A&E departments would be all but empty on Friday & Saturday night if we banned alcohol.

Lucky them party pills which have killed less people than peanut butter were banned eh!

As a point of interest, has anybody considered how quickly Jolly Jim the ban-muppet would want alcohol banned if it were a recent introduction into the recreational chemical mix?