Robbery and violence
Robberies differ from burglaries in that they are thefts that involve the use or threat of violence. Robberies are divided into two principal types: simple robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment; and aggravated robbery, which can incur a 14-year sentence. Aggravated robbery is robbery committed by more than one person, or with a weapon, or where a victim suffers grievous bodily harm.
The incidence of robbery began to grow markedly in the 1950s and jumped sharply after 1970, reaching 1,954 in 1996 – 68 times the 1950 total and 12 times the 1970 figure. Numbers then fell for nearly a decade but rose again from 2004. The 2,916 robberies in 2006 were 73% higher than the number in 1999. The number of robberies reported annually then fell before stabilising at around 2,000 between 2012 and 2014. Between 2015 and 2023, the annual number of victimisations for robbery and related offences increased from 3,269 to 5,144. These figures are not comparable with pre-2014 data due to changes in recording methodology.
Increased use of EFTPOS and credit cards has made robbery far less profitable than it was when cash was king, and much-improved security – including stationing security guards outside banks – has sharply reduced the chances of a successful getaway. Most robberies involve minor heists. Police investigate large-scale robberies vigorously, and the perpetrators are usually identified and sent to prison for lengthy periods. As a result, the professional robber began to disappear in the 1990s. Robbers were now younger and less sophisticated, and the big hauls of the past – such as the $295,000 security van hold-up at an Auckland Foodtown supermarket in 1984 (equivalent to $1.2 million in 2024) – became rare in the 21st century.
Rates of aggravated robbery
As with other forms of violence, New Zealand has seen a long-term increase in both the incidence and seriousness of robbery. The number of robberies in the early 1960s was less than 4% of those in the early 21st century, and only about 10% of them were aggravated robberies. In 2000, by contrast 91% of all robberies were aggravated.
Grievous and serious assaults
Increasing assault rates
Like other forms of violent crime, non-sexual assaults increased dramatically after 1950. The number of recorded assaults in 1970 was more than seven times that in 1950. Recorded assaults increased by 70% between 1970 and 1980, and they grew by another 55% over the next 10 years.
The number of recorded assaults peaked in the mid-1990s at 36,000, then fluctuated over the next two decades. An all-time high of 45,275 was reached in 2009; there were 39,944 in 2014 number. The number of recorded victimisations involving acts intended to cause injury fluctuated around 50,000 from 2015 to 2019, then began to increase each year, reaching nearly 70,000 in 2023.
Increasing seriousness
The seriousness of assaults also increased in the late 20th century. In 1978, non-sexual assaults were divided into three categories: minor (generally with a maximum of up to one year’s imprisonment), serious (up to three years) and grievous (up to 14 years).
In 1978, one-third of all assaults were classified as ‘serious’ or ‘grievous’. By 2008, nearly two-thirds were listed under these headings. Serious assaults grew tenfold in that 30-year period; grievous assaults grew 44-fold. Changes in police recording methods make long-term comparisons difficult, but the annual number of ‘serious assaults resulting in injury’ increased from about 8,000 in the late 1990s to almost 12,000 ten years later. By 2014 the number had dropped to around 10,000.
The total number of assault victimisations grew from 46,306 in 2015 to 69,394 in 2023. In the latter year, 28% of assault victimisations were common assaults, 39% were serious assaults without injury and 33% were serious assaults with injury. Due to the recording change in 2014, these figures cannot be compared with previous data.