Addressing the Drivers of Crime

Justice Strategic Policy Unit

A new approach to criminal offending and victimisation is intended to reduce crime

Minister of Justice - Hon Simon Power

“For too long, the debate has been fixated on how we deal with offenders

after the fact. We need to change that. Now it's time to commence a

discussion about how we stop crime happening in the first place.”

Minister Power and Minister Sharples co-hosted a Ministerial Meeting on the Drivers of Crime

• The meeting on 3 April 2009 was attended by over

100 invited participants from a range of organisations

and backgrounds, and with a common interest and

expertise in dealing with and preventing crime and

victimisation.

• Two main points emerged from the breakout

discussions on the underlying drivers of crime at the

meeting.

First, there is no one simple answer about what drives crime

• The interplay of risk factors stemming from family, community and

educational environments drives crime.

• Issues of alcohol and drug use and mental health contribute to the risk of

offending.

• The justice system response to crime further exacerbates the situation.

Secondly, the underlying drivers of crime are similar for Māori and non-Māori

• It is the prevalence of risk factors (such as poverty, transience, young mothers, sole parent families) that tends to be higher for Māori.

• These are linked to the ongoing impact of colonisation, urbanisation, and the slow pace of Treaty of Waitangi settlements which have led to a loss of cultural identity and support structures.

We have developed an approach to address the drivers of crime

• The proceedings have been published and submissions were called for by 15 May (see http://www.justice.govt.nz/jspu/Drivers.html)

• Overall, the discussion at the Ministerial Meeting and the submissions were:

– consistent with the literature

– provided a practical knowledge of the NZ context, and

– provided a general sense of priorities

• Based on the discussions, submissions and the literature, we have developed a broad approach to address the drivers of crime.

The approach for addressing the drivers of crime clusters them into three general groupings

Identifying the drivers of crime

Addressing the drivers of crime

What to do and How to do it

Family, Community and Education

Factors

Build Strong Families and Communities

Focus on families and communities with an

increased risk of offending and victimisation

Facilitators and Contributors of Crime

Reduce the Impact of Facilitators and

Contributors of Crime

Focus on individuals and families who have

specific needs associated with offending and victimisation

Justice System Factors

Deliver Fair and Effective Justice

Focus on justice system responses to

those who have already offended

The approach needs to change the path for Māori, or it will not work

• Overall approach is consistent with what needs to be done to address the drivers of crime for Māori in the criminal justice system.

• Appropriate responses for Māori may however include:– Giving Māori ownership and a voice in the development and delivery of

programmes and services;

– taking whānau concepts into account; and

– building resilience within communities.

• Must also ensure the justice system operates in a way that does not alienate or unfairly disadvantage Māori.

Addressing the drivers of crime requires changes across the Justice and Social sectors

• Many of the “levers” for reducing offending and victimisation are

located in sectors such as education, health, social and community

development

• Some of our responses to crime and management of offenders lead to

increased offending

• Get serious about reducing the over-representation of Māori in the

criminal justice system, as both the victims and perpetrators of crime

We need to address multi-factor issues requiring long term investment across many agencies

• Ministerial leadership and support is essential to an enduring whole of

government approach

• We need to work with colleagues in other sectors to help ensure that

practical initiatives are well aligned and work in ways that reduce

offending and victimisation

• We need to build on work we already do to embed a focus on reducing

offending and victimisation in the “business as usual” activities of

social, health and education sector providers

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We need to address the way the justice sector works

• We need to work with colleagues in the rest of the justice

sector to reduce the impact of the justice sector’s policies

and practices as drivers of crime

We must focus on Value for Money

• No money and no new people means we need to

be more innovative and more discerning in what

we do and how we ensure VfM

Next steps going forward

• Analysis of submissions from Ministerial Meeting on Drivers of Crime

by end of May 2009

• Briefing to Minister on next steps by end of May 2009

• Draft Cabinet Paper on ‘Addressing Drivers of Crime’ for consultation

from early June to early July 2009

– High level paper looking at the ‘areas of focus’, governance and roles and responsibilities

– Internal engagement across the Ministry and wide consultation externally

• Tight timelines due to Minister’s interest in maintaining momentum

and deadline for signalling any initiatives with financial reprioritisation

implications required before end of August