FREE PASS FOR PETTY CRIMINALS

First-time offenders caught shoplifting, drunk in public or smoking
cannabis are being let off with warnings as part of an ambitious
police programme.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad said the programme would reduce crime
and prosecution rates. It is based around a formal warning policy for
minor offences.

The policy, trialled in the Auckland region for more than a year and
now going national, means police have discretion to let offenders off
when they are caught committing crimes that carry a maximum penalty of
two years' imprisonment.

Offences such as shoplifting, breaches of liquor bans, possession of
cannabis and disorderly behaviour fit the criteria.

For a warning to be issued offenders must also be remorseful for their
offending and the victims must consent.

A warning is entered into the police system against a person's name,
and a trip to court and potential conviction are avoided. If the
offender is caught a second time, the matter is elevated to the courts.

Inspector Bill Searle, district commander for Waitemata - where the
initiative was first trialled - said at the time the aim was to unclog
the court system and free police resources for more serious crime.

"It was about looking at the lower level, more minor offences, and
seeing if we could deal with it in a different way," Searle said. "It
was about formalising the discretion and power we already had to hold
them to account but not add to the pressure courts and our staff are
already under."

Police Minister Judith Collins told the Herald on Sunday the pilot had
led to a 9 per cent drop in the number of prosecutions that would
previously have been dealt with through the courts.

She said prosecuting minor "irritating" offences wasted an awful lot
of police and court time.

"It's a sort of short, sharp resolution, to get through to the
offender that the police are not going to put up with silly behaviour
or drunken behaviour."

She said a stern warning from police was often what first-time
offenders needed to be frightened straight. Dealing swiftly with minor
disorder-type offending also prevented escalation to more serious
crime, she said.

Other initiatives include:

Rostering more police staff at peak load times and more non-frontline
officers to be considered for use during periods of heavy demand.

A "mobility workstream" pilot which will equip officers with more
effective, high-tech equipment, such as laptops in cars and PDAs,
allowing them to quickly access information about vehicles and their
drivers following traffic stops. The trial will be launched in the
Southern Districts in May.

Neighbourhood policing teams being trialled in South Auckland will be
be rolled out nationally in 2012. They target problem neighbourhoods
and known criminals.

Broad said: "In all of this our aim is to achieve a virtuous cycle of
fewer victims and offenders, less processing time and greater
allocation of our effort to crime and crash prevention."

He predicted by 2015 the programme would result in 4 per cent
redeployment of resource into crime prevention, a 13 per cent drop in
recorded crime and a 21 per cent reduction in prosecutions.

"The public will see a difference. We will be a police service of
which New Zealanders can be proud."

Shopkeepers Support Warning Policy

Despite being targeted regularly by shoplifters, retailers say a
formal warning for first time offenders is a good idea.

Sam Tarsem Singh, of City Convenience store in central Auckland, said
shoplifters often tried all sorts of devious methods in his shop.

"They bring empty bags and put the stuff in. Sometimes if we look busy
they will take advantage."

Asked what he thought of a police pilot programme in which minor
first-time offenders will be let off with a formal warning, he said:
"I think it's good for the first time, but the second time they must
get punished."

Since the pilot - called Alternate Resolutions - was launched in the
Auckland region more than a year ago, more shoplifters had been let
off than any other offenders. Breaches of liquor bans were the next
most excused.

South Auckland Dollar Dealer manager Heemi Templeton said his store
had been a victim to theft. Many of the shoplifters were opportunistic
offenders who had fallen on hard times and would benefit from a warning.

Victim Support chief executive Tony Paine said his organisation
supported the initiative. "One of the things that it's doing is
freeing up the courts to deal with more serious crimes. Some victims
are waiting 12 to 18 months for a case to go trial."

He was also pleased victims would be asked before police let offenders
off with warnings. "In the case of a guy caught with cannabis in his
pocket, there's really only one victim: the guy with the cannabis in
his pocket."

Former Green MP and campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis Nandor
Tanczos said he supported the initiative because it would protect
young people who were "being stupid" from carrying a conviction for
the rest of their lives.