Police are preparing to expand their beat team presence across the country as the Government says it continues to push ahead with its violent crime reduction target.
The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS) data showed that in the 12 months to May, there were 156,000 victims of violent crime. Violent crime included incidents of sexual assault, non-sexual physical assault and robbery.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said Henderson in West Auckland would be the next area to get a dedicated team with seven officers set to hit the streets in the coming weeks.
“Since receiving funding through Budget 2024, Police have deployed 63 beat officers across our major cities, and into Dunedin, Rotorua and New Plymouth districts. That number will soon grow to 70.”
Mitchell said that lifting police presence was one of the Government’s law and order priorities.
“Having police visible out on our streets goes a long way to deterring crime and ensuring the public are and feel safe.”
Between August 2024 and July 2025, beat teams in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch clocked up more than 16,000 hours on foot patrols – more than double the previous year.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the tougher approach was helping to drive crime numbers down.
“The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows there were 156,000 victims of serious violent crime in the 12 months to May. That’s 29,000 fewer than when we came into government.
“There were also 4000 fewer Māori victims, a 9% decrease on the last update. Ultimately, that’s still 156,000 victims too many.”
There were 41,000 victims of family violence and 115,000 victims of non-family violence.
“When compared to October 2023, there were 3000 fewer victims of family violence (8% decrease) and 40,000 fewer victims of non-family violence (26% decrease),” the NZCVS said.
However, there has been an increase in sexual assault victims, with 3000 more between February and May.
“This increase means that the number of victims of sexual assault was above the baseline number. There were 2000 more victims of sexual assault (3% increase) between October 2023 (76,000 victims) and May 2025.”
Goldsmith said the Government expected the data to remain volatile and that there was still plenty of work to do to continue driving numbers down.
“We know our plan to restore law and order is working, and we make no apologies for getting tough on crime.”