City crime on the march despite safety promise

In a downtown pockmarked with closed-for-business signs and shuttered buildings, one thing is on the rise – crime.

It’s now higher than before the Covid pandemic and since a $7.7 million central city safety promise that started three years ago.

Existing police data already showed acts intended to cause injury were up in 2023 compared to 2021, as was robbery, unlawful entry, and theft in Wellington’s central city.

But police data now released under the Official Information Act goes back to 2019, before Covid-19 wrought changes on downtown, and shows the same types of crime are up compared to 2019, while the numbers of sexual assaults and related offences went from 69 to 61. It comes as hospitality businesses struggle with fewer punters coming to the city amid a cost of living crisis and changing habits, retailers closing, and a large numbers of downtown buildings facing quake-strengthening issues.

Total “reported victimisations” in an area roughly extending to Kent Tce, Karo Drive and the Wellington Railway Station increased from 3567 in 2019 to 4021 in 2023.

In May, 2021, the $7.7m Pōneke Promise was launched. It was led by the city council but also included police, hospitality, retail, regional council, social services, local iwi and others. It started from young women feeling unsafe in the city but grew to be about making the city “feel safe, vibrant and welcoming for everyone”.

Mayor Tory Whanau said the council had been working on safety initiatives since the Pōneke Promise but it was time to update them. She was working with Downtown Community Ministry and leaders from regional and central government on this.

“Pōneke Promise has helped introduce some good changes but it’s clear that more needs to be done to make our city safer and friendlier.”

Pukehīnau/Lambton ward councillor Geordie Rogers said council work was making a “massive difference compared to where we would have been”. But there was still work to do.

Fellow ward councillor Iona Pannett said the problems in the city were too complex to be solved by just one initiative. But she pointed out that rising crime statistics could also reflect more people reporting crime.