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Archived Press Releases 2010 9th June 2010

ROAD TOLL CONFIRMS ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH

(9th June 2010)

"There is no reason New Zealand could not get the violent crime rate back to the same as it was 50 years ago when we had 2 murders and 200 violent crimes a year".

The lowest road toll in 54 years is being used as an example of what could be achieved if the same zero-tolerance approach was used in all aspects of crime fighting.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust say that after years of saying deterrents don’t work legislators and law makers will be wringing their hands in anxiety and looking for another excuse to shy away from adopting across the board zero tolerance policies to all crime.

Spokesman Garth McVicar said he congratulated police for such an outstanding achievement. "The lowest road toll in 54 years is a remarkable feat and particularly so after many years of being told that deterrents don’t work."

"The standard argument against a zero tolerance approach to crime has been that 'Deterrents don’t work', well the police have just proved that good old fashioned law and order methods do work."

McVicar said, "This proves deterrents do work – strict policing may be old fashioned but it still works – the deniers were wrong!"

"The National- Act Government got elected to get tough on crime, we look forward to a new era of zero-tolerance policing in all aspects of crime fighting".

Regards,

Garth McVicar
National Spokesperson,
Sensible Sentencing Trust.