Police to stay upfront about crime

Taranaki police have no intention of following Gisborne's lead and restricting information given to the media about crime.

Gisborne area commander Inspector Sam Aberahama last week announced local stations in the region would no longer routinely offer detailed information about crimes to the media, in a move to "make the community feel safer".

He said he saw no benefit in "reporting to all and sundry."

Only a small percentage of the population was directly affected by crime but that view could be "skewed" by detailed media reports that gave the impression crime was rampant throughout a city.

Instead, police in the region would "streamline" information, providing an overview of any specific crime problem affecting the city or a suburb, he said.

East Coast police district spokeswoman Kris McGehan later said the media would still be given information, but not in the same detail it had until now.

New Plymouth area commander Inspector Blair Telford said things would not change here.

"We will be continuing to keep the community informed through a variety of means, including the media, about relative crimes," Mr Telford said.

The community had a right to know what was going on, he said.

"The media can help and highlight issues that are going on in the community.

"The media plays a part in keeping the public informed and helping to draw attention to where the public can be of assistance to police," Mr Telford said.

He would not comment on the changes in Gisborne.

Taranaki rural area commander Inspector Terry van Dillen said he had no plans to make changes to the information released to the media in his patch.

Mr van Dillen said senior sergeants or the officer in charge of the station would continue to give the media information about crime happening in the community.

"We have no issues with that. We need community support to solve crime, to back us up and to let us know what's going on," he said.

"It is the public that have to deal with these issues as well as the police."

Taranaki Daily News editor Jonathan MacKenzie said the Gisborne police and the people of Gisborne would be poorer for the move.

"It is crucial the community knows the good work the police are doing and the flipside to that is they need to know who is doing what to whom in the community," Mr MacKenzie said.

He congratulated the local police on their pragmatic and sensible approach to reporting crime.

Police media relations manager Jon Neilson said the decision was not part of any directive issued by National Headquarters, but was a management matter at a district level.

The move has also been slammed by the Media Freedom Committee who said the policy was not only flawed but forlorn.

Chairman Tim Murphy said restricting public awareness of crime will not actually restrict crime.

"People will feel safer when they know the police are reducing crime or improving their clearance rates by finding and prosecuting offenders – not when police suppress information on what is going on in their community," Mr Murphy said.

The committee questioned how the Commissioner could allow any of his staff or stations to interfere deliberately in the public's right to know what is occurring in their town and neighbourhoods.

- © Fairfax NZ News