Police have criticised last night¡¯s Television New Zealand news report of leaked police crime statistics as ¡°misleading¡±.
Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls, who will formally release the 2009 calendar year crime statistics at 10am today, says taking a section of the official commentary which talks about the impact of legislation on the statistics out of context has created a misleading impression which needs to be corrected.
¡°Over the past few years Police have made a standard practice to include in the statistics commentary reference to whether any legislative change could have artificially impacted on trends recorded in the statistics.
¡°For example Police have previously included statements about the Crimes Amendment Act 2003 widening the definition of Burglary.
¡°The statement included in the report, for the 2009 calendar year statistics, quoted in last night¡¯s Television New Zealand report was intended to communicate that there were no such changes to legislation this year.
¡°It was in no way commentary on the effectiveness of Government policies or recent legislative change.
¡°A full, substantial, commentary on the statistics has been included in the package of information which will be released to media at 10am this morning,¡± Mr Nicholls says.
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