The recent spike in ram raids has many Kiwis believing the Government is too soft on crime, but a criminology expert says it is the justice system that warrants this title.
"I look at some of the decisions by the court and I agree that the courts are too soft on crime, but that's not a political issue that's a matter for the courts," University of Canterbury Criminology Professor Greg Newbold told Newshub Live at 8pm presenter Rebecca Wright.
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll found Kiwis think Police Minister Poto Williams is too lenient on crime.
But Prof Newbold says the figures don't reveal a lot. He says the public is likely to be uninformed about legislation and the role of the Government when it comes to crime.
"You've got a fairly uninformed and impressionist public making comments in these cases."
He says the legislation that has been passed since 1985 has gotten tougher, in particular on violent crime.
Labour MP and Attorney-General David Parker told AM host Ryan Bridge he is confident the Police Minister is doing her job capably.
"I'm the Fisheries Minister… I don't think the fishery offices wake up in the morning and say is David Parker a tough guy before they go out and do their job. My job as Minister is to make sure they've got the resources."
However, National MP Paul Goldsmith, appearing alongside Parker on AM, said New Zealanders are rightly concerned that the Government is focused on not wanting to be too tough on criminals.
"You look at what the Government's focused on in the justice area well you know their main message in Parliament is that 'we're too tough on criminals we've got to get rid of the three-strikes legislation,'" Goldsmith said.
The controversial three-strikes law, which came into force under National and ACT in 2010, aimed to tackle repeat offending by giving third-time serious offenders the maximum sentence with no chance of parole. It was criticised over concerns offenders were being sentenced to disproportionately harsh terms.
Parker responded to Goldsmith's remarks stating Parliament condones illegal activity in gangs.
"There is not one person in Parliament that defends the illegal activity in gangs, we all hate it."
But, the recent spike in ram raids has been largely carried out by youth offenders, which makes it harder to prosecute.
Prof Newbold says when it comes to youth offending there is not a lot that can be done in the short term, but questions need to be asked of the families these children come from to tackle this "difficult situation".
"What sort of a family has a child out on the streets… At 3am on a weekday," he said. "You have got to ask questions about the families that these kids come from."
