Canterbury Police District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill has spoken in detail about youth crime, dangerous driving, gang compliance, and road safety in an extended interview with Chris Lynch Media.

Hill has been addressing renewed attention on youth offending after a series of burglaries across Christchurch, first revealed by chrislynchmedia.com.

He said officers have been dealing with repeated groups of young offenders, with some already caught and others still being tracked.

“There has been a couple of spates of this in recent times and some we have apprehended and some we have not,” Hill said. “The team are doing a great job at apprehending and that is our role. Our role is about making sure that we are holding the offenders to account.”

He said that while it may feel to the public as if one group is dealt with and another quickly emerges, police clearance rates remain high.

“It probably feels like to the public that we deal with one group and then there is another group pop up. But our clearance rates on this are very high. We are good at apprehending them and we will keep doing that.”

Hill addressed the public frustration over offenders fleeing in stolen cars and driving dangerously because they know police will not pursue them.

“What we do not want to do is get into a pursuit with a stolen vehicle and put the public at risk,” he said. “The burglary is one thing and that is appalling that they are doing those sorts of things. But to make it worse by pursuing them and therefore putting members of the public at risk is something that we are not prepared to do.”

He said officers immediately start planning where offenders are likely to go rather than chasing in the moment.

“I am super impressed with the maturity of our staff. They start turning their mind to where will they go afterwards, where are they likely to stop, as opposed to trying to pursue them at the time. We are seeing better results as a result of it.”

Hill confirmed police usually know who is responsible.

“We have got our youth team who do an amazing job. Most of the time within a day or so they have a really good idea about who is responsible.”

He said police have increased resources ahead of Christmas, a period that typically brings a rise in youth offending.

Hill discussed the motivations behind youth offenders, describing a trend of live streaming crimes for attention.

“What we do see is that there is a trend at the moment. They are on social media and live streaming some of the offending. Maybe the boredom factor is there. There is an element of that. There is an unfortunate notoriety that they think they are getting.”

He said a small group can cause significant damage in a short period.

“Sometimes two or three can cause some significant harm in a twenty four hour window. The quicker we can react and apprehend those people and hold them to account the better.”

Hill challenged a claim from Retail New Zealand that Christchurch is the centre of retail crime.

“I think that is a bit of a generalist statement. They might be wrapping into that what is happening around youth offending and shoplifting. We have a retail crime team now doing great results. We are trending down in a lot of the offending.”

Hill also addressed the recent assault on a police officer at Christchurch Airport, describing the offender as highly unpredictable.

“He is a good guy. He was out investigating something he thought was appropriate to get involved in and it really demonstrates the unpredictability that some offenders pose to our staff. He had to go to hospital. It has been quite significant, the injuries he has suffered.”

He said the officer will recover, but it will take time.

Hill confirmed Canterbury has seen only a small number of gang insignia seizures since new legislation was introduced nationwide. He credited direct engagement with gang leaders.

“I met with a couple of gang leaders and talked to them about what the legislation brings. Our compliance levels in Canterbury reflect that. We have had a small number of cases and we have reacted quickly.”

He also spoke about population growth in Selwyn, saying police are preparing for increasing demand.

“We are mindful about population growth and the demographic likely to see more of our services. We are really keen to bring a twenty four seven response to the Selwyn area.”

Hill commented on a recent fatal crash in Sheffield, saying the inclusion of the driver’s nationality in the press release was not intended to imply foreign drivers were a key risk.

“There is a perception that people who are foreign to our country and driving here are a risk. The reality is far more Kiwis are causing and involved in dying on our roads.”

He urged all road users to take extra care heading into Christmas.

“Driving behavior on the road has not been as good as we would like. People are getting frustrated earlier. Be patient. Look twice before you enter intersections. Be tolerant of other people on the road.”

Viewers asked Hill about red light running and mobile phone use, two major concerns among Christchurch motorists.

“If we observe it, we do something about it,” he said. “If people get a registration number they can report it on one zero five and we will follow up.”

Hill said phone use remains one of the biggest factors in serious crashes.

“We know a large percentage of our crashes result from people being distracted. I personally do a lot of these. It is my favourite to catch people on their phones. They always get the Tony talk.”

Hill ended the interview by urging motorists to stay off their phones and stay patient on the roads as the region heads into its busiest period of the year.