Pushing back Helping fight increasing rates of crime

By Natasha Parrant

A lot of recurring crimes have been committed lately such as ram raids, drunk driving and stolen goods, which have gradually gotten worse due to a variety of influences. These issues are why it’s important for Aotearoa businesses to prevent crime.

RNZ stated retail crime has gotten worse in the past few years with thousands of more cases being recorded between 2020 and 2021 and 2021 to 2022.

Police figures show that robbery, burglary and thefts have increased majorly, as police received 241,638 reports in 2022 compared to 208,445 cases being reported in 2021.

According to the Beehive.govt.nz website, increased crimes have caused the government to establish crime prevention programmes for small retailers and dairies, as posted on December 15, 2022.

The way these programmes work is there’s $6 million in new government funding for councils and providers, which started over Christmas.

The new $4,000 fog cannon subsidy scheme went live in February, and small retailers who have dealt with robbery are eligible for crime prevention products.

The government is providing extra solutions to improve safety in small shops and at-risk nearby places in Aotearoa, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and small business minister Stuart Nash says.

“As we move into the Christmas period it’s important to provide an update for retailers on the work the government and police are doing to help keep them safe,” Chris says.

“The fog cannon scheme will be open to eligible small retailers and dairies that want a fog cannon installed, with a $4000 subsidy paid directly to the supplier and retailers paying the balance,” Stuart says.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has declared that retailers can use the scheme from February this year. Retailers who are interested in accessing the scheme can do so on business.govt.nz.

The earlier retailers show interest, the easier it’ll be for the government to get a rough idea of how many people need the subsidy.