Editors Note: The original article was published in complete and has been updated.
Retail crime continues to be an issue in the South, as it is in many other parts of the country, with Government moves to clamp down on crime an important boost.
Last year I attended a public meeting in Invercargill discussing youth crime in the city, where the city’s new mall had been targeted, with local police working with retailers to come up with a solution.
While in January this year two young males broke into a dairy in Windsor after attempting to rob a city jewellery store.
I also recall the owner of the Collingwood Food Centre, outlining her frustration and concern for staff, after her a knife wielding man broken into her store.
These offences take their toll on retailers, their staff and the people living in the surrounding area.
It is positive that police statistics show that burglaries and thefts in Invercargill city are down in the 12 months to January 2025, from 2719 offences to 1954, similarly in Southland they’ve decreased from 475 offences to 372.
Local police should be congratulated on their vigilance in keeping our community safe and getting these crime rates down, and the Government also wants to help in clamping down on retail crime, by giving businesses more powers to detain and arrest those stealing from them.
The reforms include Amending the Crimes Act so that citizens can intervene to stop any Crimes Act offence at any time of the day, clarifying that restraints can be used, when reasonable, when making an arrest and changing the defense of property provisions to the Crimes Act so it is clear that reasonable force may be used.
This means that any person can detain someone they witness committing an offence under the Crimes Act, like theft, provided they feel safe and confident to do so. They must call the police following the arrest and adhere to their instructions. This covers retailers, security guards, and the public.
I would suggest calling the police is always the preferred option and that safety is always paramount.
However, at the same time, retailers need additional tools at their disposal. For instance, the current situation where people can leave supermarkets with shopping trolleys full of groceries, and all staff can do is stand there, cannot continue.
This is about providing more tools to retailers to deal with retail crime and in a place like Southland, ensuring that our crime statistics continue to decrease – keeping the community safe and protecting local retailers.
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