Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal called for tougher action on retail crime after the fatal stabbing of dairy worker Janak Patel in Auckland in November. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Business owners feel helpless in the face of crime and and have lost hope in the authorities after more break-ins and attacks, a business group claims.
Shop robberies and break-ins were making a mockery of the government's recent announcement that youth crime is down, Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal said.
A Hamilton superette worker needed hospital treatment on Thursday night after being assaulted during a robbery.
And there were two smash and grabs in Auckland on Friday morning, with six young people arrested after one ram-raid.
Rothesay Bay superette was ram-raided early on Friday. Photo: Supplied
People did not feel safe doing their jobs, Kaushal said.
"They have no hope left in the current authorities and the law and order system, because it's currently shattered all over. No-one is feeling safe," he said.
Among the frustrations facing those targeted was the knowledge they could not detain young people during a crime - which Kaushal said those committing the crimes knew too.
"As a business owner we can't detain kids, and the kids know it. These business owners, they are feeling helpless.
"The people have lost faith there is any accountability in our judicial system."
He said there needed to be zero tolerance for retail and youth crime, and that the country must get tough on crime or the problem was not going to be solved.
What the authorities have said about retail crime
Ginny Andersen was named as the government's new police minister late last month.
She quickly said she would focus on improving community safety, with a focus on targeting retail crime and youth offending by working on making sure police were available on the front line to respond.
Crime reporting data showed that from 2018 to 2022 reported retail crime rose by 39 percent.
The figures were released by the police minister to the National Party and reported last month.
Police said the increase was partly due to the new Auror system that made it easier to report low-level crime - particularly for large retailers, and the data showed 82 percent of reports were for low-level crimes like shoplifting or theft valued at less than $500.
But National Party police spokesperson Mark Mitchell said it showed an average of 292 recorded retail crimes each day during 2022, a significant rise from 140 each day in 2018, with dramatic increases in eight out of 12 policing districts, and that it was likely some crime was still going unreported.
Last month the police's new National Retail Investigation Support Unit marked 1000 charges laid, since it began operating in May last year.
In November, the government announced a $4 million fund to support local council crime prevention programmes to be matched dollar-for-dollar with councils. This included a $4000 subsidy to shops and dairies to install fog cannons.
A $6m crime prevention package, the Small Retailer Crime Prevention Fund was announced by the government in May last year, including funds to help retailers install bollards, and other measures to prevent ram raids and robberies. And the then-police minister Poto Williams acknowledged that there had been a spike in ram raids.