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New Zealand's recorded crimes see drop last year

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Reported crimes in New Zealand fell by 2.8 percent last year, although sexual offenses were on the rise, according to figures released by the government statistics agency Wednesday.

The Statistics New Zealand figures showed 350,389 recorded crimes last year compared to 360,411 in 2013, and when adjusted for population growth, offenses per head of population dropped by 4.2 percent.

New Zealand Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Grant Nicholls said sexual assault and related offenses remained a major concern, with recorded offenses rising 3.5 percent last year.

"We believe that historically sexual violence has been under- reported to authorities," Nicholls said in a statement.

"Police are heartened that victims of this type of crime are coming forward and we want to assure them that police take all complaints of sexual violence seriously."

Police Minister Michael Woodhouse said the drop in recorded crimes could be attributed to changes in police deployments.

"We are continuing to send the strong message that crime won't be tolerated and the 4.2-percent drop in the overall crime rate is the result of more frontline officers on our streets, deployed more strategically, in areas and at times when police know there's a greater risk of crime," Woodhouse said in a statement. Endi