Release: Ram Raids drop to two-year low

Data released today by Police shows a 70 percent reduction in ram raids from their peak of 116 a month in August 2022. By comparison there were 35 ram raids last month.

Ram raids have been trending down for the past three months, with 78 in May, 50 in June, and 42 in July.

“Since becoming Police Minister in March, I’ve focused on tackling the ram raid problem and these efforts are starting to turn a corner with the lowest number of ram raids per month in two years,” Ginny Andersen said.

“The number of ram raids per month is now at the lowest since September 2021.

“One ram raid is one ram raid too many. They cause immense destruction, trauma, and harm. We have more to do more, but our approach is starting to pay off.

“The circuit breaker programmes we’ve put in place have worked. As at September 2023, 77 per cent of the young people that have gone through them were not re-offending.

“By taking an evidence-based approach, Labour in Government has been able to turn around the lives of these young people and stop them from entering into a life of crime.

“This is in stark contrast to National’s failed boot camp experiment, where around 80% of children went on to reoffend.

“National’s own chief science advisor in Government Sir Peter Gluckman said that boot camps don’t work, and ‘scared straight’ programmes have been shown to increase crime.

“Christopher Luxon and National are more interested in stoking fear through misinformation than they are in providing solutions. Luxon’s false claim has already been called out by TVNZ fact checkers and is now being shown wrong, for a third month in a row, by Police data.

“National is ignoring the evidence, and ignoring their own advice, to try and sound tough on crime” Ginny Andersen said.

Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.