One year after the introduction of dedicated Police Beat Teams in Christchurch’s central city, the initiative is being hailed as a success, with Police Minister Mark Mitchell highlighting a significant 67% drop in robberies in the city over the past 12 months.

The milestone comes as Minister Mitchell visited Rotorua this week to launch another Beat Team, while celebrating the impact the teams are having in major urban centres like Christchurch.

“We have already seen the positive impact our Police beat teams are having across our major CBDs,” said Mitchell. “These results are encouraging and show inroads are being made at the violent end of retail crime.”

Police report that the beat teams in Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland have done 14,108 hours of foot patrols on the beat since starting in July last year to the end of April this year. This is an increase of 189% from the same period in 2023-2024.

Christchurch has seen a reduction in robbery of 67%, unlawful entry by 29% and sexual assault by 16%.

“Our beat officers have an important role in ensuring our retailers and members of the public feel and are safe,” Mitchell said. “We know it makes a huge difference to our communities to see Police out on the streets. Not only does it make people feel safer—we know it discourages crime.”

While the drop in serious offences is promising, Mitchell acknowledged that low-level shoplifting remains an issue. The government recently announced stronger penalties for theft, part of a wider crackdown aimed at protecting retailers and holding offenders to account.

“Getting on top of retail crime is a priority,” Mitchell added. “We will continue to back Police with the powers and tools they need to deter and hold offenders to account.”