Lies damned lies and Crime statistics

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, August 1st, 2021 - 13 comments
Categories: crime, Judith Collins, making shit up, national, same old national, spin, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

It should be an offence for political parties to deliberately misrepresent law and order statistics.  It should be an aggravating feature if the party is a conservative party that champions law and order issues.  After all fraud is an offence and if we don’t punish it appropriately then everyone will do it.  Or so the deterrence theory goes.

David Fisher in the Herald has this blistering take down of National’s latest law and order advertisements.  It is behind the paywall which is unfortunate because it deserves greater readership.

The first thing he notes from the advertisement is the phrase “and the police have said ‘arrest is now the exception'”.  The police did say that.  In 2010 when a policy to deal with some low level offending by Iwi panels was introduced.  When Judith was Minister of Police.  And as Minister of Justice in 2016 she reviewed the pilot and ordered that it be rolled out throughout the country.  How could she have made such a simple mistake in saying that a policy introduced by National was Labour’s policy?

The second criticism of National’s attacks were the use of gang numbers.  I am sure that everyone is aware of National claims that gang numbers have surged under Labour’s reign.

Fisher’s articule says that the figures themselves are dubious because:

  • Police say the National Gang List data could not be used to show actual numbers of gang members.
  • The list was started in 2016 as an intelligence tool and names have been added as police awareness grew.
  • As police have become more aware more names have been added.
  • It is very difficult for names to be removed and ceasing association with a gang, even through death, may not remove a person’s name from the list.

It is a surveillance tool and not a census.  But don’t expect to see any acknowledgement from National any time soon.

The third aspect that Fisher addressed was the number of serious assaults resulting in injury had doubled between 2017 and 2020.  The reason?  Definition changes had put more offences into this category.  Overall the number of victimisations have remained stable.

Don’t expect the quality of this debate to improve any time soon.  And any time National makes a claim about crime check the background.

13 comments on “Lies damned lies and Crime statistics ”

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  1. Siobhan 1
    1 August 2021 at 11:52 am

    Ofcourse Simon is still running on a campaign of misinformation…lapped up by a bunch of someones somewhere I guess…

    "As I’ve said here recently, Tauranga is now the crime capital of New Zealand – our region has more gang members and meth than anywhere else in New Zealand." Simon Bridges, this week sometime…

    http://www.sunlive.co.nz/blogs

    Now this may or may not be true…there is no link to any statistics….no link to his "as I've said recently"…and I can't find anything via google that supports this claim whatsoever. Sloppy work at best. I have occasionally wondered what he was actually like as a lawyer..

    • Anne 1.1
      1 August 2021 at 6:58 pm

      " I have occasionally wondered what he was actually like as a lawyer.."

      All mouth and no trousers. 😉

  2. tc 2
    1 August 2021 at 12:01 pm

    "Don’t expect the quality of this debate to improve any time soon…." totally with lightweights like Faafoi overlooking his old mates in the media.

    He's too busy along with the rest of them dealing with 'issues' which IMO are second priority to housing etc and handing the opposition bats to smash them with.

    So by all means crack on with stuff but do everyone a favour and sort out this deliberate misleading of the public. Judith passed on regulating them when she had the chance…..see why now, suits them just fine.

    Megan woods could do with a hand ? Housing and Energy pretty mammoth issues there.

  3. RedLogix 3
    1 August 2021 at 3:20 pm

    You know as well as anyone Mickey that perception is all in politics. And the NZ public perceive rightly or wrongly that the gangs have become either more numerous, or more audacious in recent years. Or both.

    In the absence of reliable data – that only the govt can legitimately provide – then expect their opponents to fill the gap with whatever lies expeditiously to hand.

  4. Patricia Bremner 4
    1 August 2021 at 3:50 pm

    Judith fudged the Police stats when she was Minister of Police.

    Why would we take her seriously? She is tarnished on many levels.

    The last National Government let synthetic drug use grow, ran Police numbers down as part of their "Smaller Government".

  5. barry 5
    1 August 2021 at 4:25 pm

    When Collins called for an "adult" discussion of superannuation, I wondered when National were going to join an adult discussion of crime/punishment. Clearly not any time soon.

    • tc 5.1
      1 August 2021 at 5:59 pm

      Judith tainted from DP, her time as Police minister, Oravida, that last campaign and the faux praying scene etc etc.

      Unelectable in many peoples eyes and she knows it IMO so expect more of the same, doubling down etc.
      Works with our media echo chamber a treat.

  6. Incognito 6
    1 August 2021 at 6:23 pm

    There are lies, damned lies, and National Party talking points.

  7. pat 7
    1 August 2021 at 6:44 pm

    National may be particularly egregious but I gave up expecting honesty from politicians what seems a lifetime ago.

    Any time a politician makes a claim about anything check the background

    • Ed1 7.1
      2 August 2021 at 12:34 pm

      "Any time a politician makes a claim about anything check the background" Since very few are in a position to check even some of what politician's say, such advice merely leads to "if no-one has objected then it must be true", with eventual disappointment leading to "but they are all the same" – which is the aim of National – voter apathy is important to them . . .

      • pat 7.1.1
        2 August 2021 at 12:57 pm

        "They are all the same"

        In many respects they are, especially in the tactics they employ which is unsurprising given the constraints they work within….and the backgrounds they share.

        You can describe it as a call for voter apathy …I view it as a call to demand better of them, for it will continue until we do.

  8. RP Mcmurphy 8
    1 August 2021 at 7:52 pm

    at base the nationals philosophy is immoral.

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