Police are putting the latest spike in crime down to an increase in reporting rather than an increase in actual crime.
It comes after a couple of nasty public brawls in the past two weeks. One which saw members of the Mongrel Mob attacking rival gang members in broad daylight in Palmerston North, leaving shocked onlookers scrambling to get out of the way.
In another attack on Saturday, May 13, about six adults viciously beat another person lying motionless on the ground, in broad daylight, outside Auckland's Downtown Ferry Terminal. National's Mark Mitchell slammed the attack, while Auckland Business Chamber's CEO Simon Bridges had a similar reaction labelling it "barbaric".
Superintendent Phil Taikato told AM on Wednesday he "understands" these events "may concern" the public but wants to reassure Kiwis police are doing everything they can to stop these attacks.
"Behind the scenes, we have so much work going on that's going to, in the long term, have a positive effect on what is happening," Taikato told AM co-host Laura Tupou.
"What we need to understand is, this type of activity and behaviour happens in ebbs and flows, and in particular areas and districts across the motu."
Police data from April shows there were 51 ram raids in March, up from 41 in February.
The number of ram raids in March was down from the number being recorded monthly for most of 2022, but well above that being recorded pre-pandemic.
Retail crime isn't just limited to ram raids. Data released by National in March showed retail crime had increased by 39 percent over the year prior.
Other police data shows the number of burglaries and thefts committed nationally between April 2022 and March 2023 was well up on the year prior, though that isn't limited to retail offending.
But Taikato believes there is more to the story.
"Well, quite frankly, I wouldn't say there's more crime happening. From my perspective, what I'm saying is there is more crime being reported," he said.
"I'd like to add that we have so much happening behind the scenes … We're working so closely with our community providers we feel we are making an impact."
He believes the latest attacks have been "media sized" and puts the increase in crime down to more reporting rather than an increase in crime around the country.
"[It has] definitely been media sized, but like I said, it's in ebbs and flows and we are doing our utmost to get on top of this type of activity and behaviour," he told AM.
"With the invention of social media, what we're seeing now is a lot of footage being put through social media that would never have been put through previously when we didn't have it."
When asked about the police stats that show there has been a 25 percent increase in crimes nationally from 2022 to 2023, Taikato puts it down to more reporting.
"What that tells us is there has been an increase in reporting and we want to encourage more and more from the public," he said.
"It is much easier for our community and our public to report these types of events and activities."
Watch the full interview with Phil Taikato in the video above.
