Paul Goldsmith: Justice Minister on the new changes to citizen's arrest powers amid an uptick in retail crime

Dealing with retail crime could be about to get easier.  

Incoming new Government measures are expected to address the possibility of citizen's arrests and make it clearer how people can protect their properties.  

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking a government advisory group has been working very hard on recommendations and next steps, which will be confirmed later today. 

It comes as new data shows overall retail crime increased 12%, however ram raids halved last year, and violent crime dropped 2%. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So it appears to be working. When you crack down
on crime, you get results. For the first time since
twenty eighteen, violent crime has dropped. Police start to shows
a two percent drop last year. Also, there were twenty
four thousand fewer people in need of help in the
latest Crime and Victims survey. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith with
us good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I was watching the press conference with you and the
Prime Minister of Mark Mitchell and the Police Commissioner the
other day. The Police Commissioner seems to be reveling in
these new rules you've given them, and the stats on
violent crime seem to show that it's working.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well. Yes, it's all about giving the police extra tools
to deal with gangs. If you're our standing point is
that you want to reduce the number of victims of
serious vinal crime. Obvious place to start, as the ones
who are causing most of the making small group of
New Zealanders. The gangs are creating a significant proportion of
the serious violent crime, and so we've bring them the
extra tools that they need to make life very difficult

(00:51):
for them. And it's working well. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
He also seemed to suggest that he wanted more rules,
more freedom. Is he getting them or going to get them?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, look, I mean we're always We've got a lot
of legis of the work that we're working our way
through around the sentencing phrase of regime so that you know,
we've got real consequences for crime. The three strikes laws
a part of that. And yes, we're always looking at
different ways in which we can help with the with
the effort to connect people with responsibility. Ultimately, what people

(01:23):
want to see is they might be safe in their
communities and they want to see people help to account
when they're breaking the law.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
And of course, the other thing that came out of
that press conference the other day is he was suggesting,
Chambers was suggesting that people and the feedback he's getting,
are you getting it as well? People feel safer.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yes, but I mean obviously we were all conscious that
there's a long way to go. Things got badly out
of control. But you know, I mean I was down
in Napier a couple of weeks ago when people were saying,
you know, it was actually quite striking and not seeing
the gang patches everywhere you go down to the local barbecue.
In the past, the place would be overrun with gang
patches everybody would leave. That wasn't happening this summer, and

(02:01):
so we want to keep that going. It's been a
great effort so far, but there's a lot more to do.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
And then on retail crime, I note some criticism this
morning from Ginny Anderson on this group that you set
up a while ago, and Sunnykoscher's earning a lot of
money and there's not a single recommendation. Does that change today?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yes? Yes, they're working very hard that group, and they're
given us some recommendations in that retail crime space, which
will be announced. Lady, I see the Herald's got a
bit of a sniff of that, and it's fundamentally around
looking at those issues of how do particularly retailers deal
with people just walking out with stuff and not paying.

(02:38):
And I think everybody's been conscious that is happening more
and more, and we've got to have a bitter response.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Look the moment, So if I see somebody walking out
with something, can I arrest them now? Or will I
be able to arrest them?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, we'll give you the details coming up. But look,
I mean that there's an obvious tension between we don't
want to create the Wild West and vigilanteism and chaos.
But at the other end of the spectrum, the situation
that you've got now people walking out supermarkets, trolleys surrounded
by staff talking at them all the way to the car,
getting in the car and driving off and nothing happening.

(03:10):
It just doesn't work because people are getting the idea
that you don't actually have to pay for stuff, and
the reality is that everybody else has to pay for
your stolen stuff. And it's undermining our sense of the
rule of law. So we've got to come up with
a better solution, and we're going to come up with
some proposals today.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Fantastic. The security guards need the power. Are they going
to get the power?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, that's what we'll be announcing mator today. But yes,
we're going to make it clearer and a bit easier
for people to look after their property and to restore
a bit of law and order to our communities in
our retail sector.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Appreciate time. Justice was the Paul Goldsmith Mike, the reduction
of violent crime sounds like runs on the board for
the government. I tend to agree with that.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
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