Major new crime survey launched
A new crime survey, the NZ Crime and Victim Survey (NZCVS), started on March 5.
“This is a large scale annual national survey, with face-to-face interviews with 8,000 people over the age of 15 and it will take seven months to complete,” says Dr Michael Slyuzberg from the project team.
“NZCVS will produce a great range and depth of information which will be highly current and relevant. We want to know what the impact of crime has had on their lives in the last 12 months and we want to know about both reported and non-reported offenses.”
People’s information will be entirely confidential”, he says.
The survey will take seven months to complete and the data will be analysed with the results published towards the end of the year.
NZCVS results will be used by the Ministry of Justice, Statistics NZ, Ministry of Social Development Te Puni Kokiri, the Police, Department of Corrections, Oranga Tamariki, and the Ministry for Women.
“We have overcrowded prisons,” Michael says, “with a very high rate of imprisonment by international standards; the information provided NZCVS will make an important contribution into achieving the Government’s goal of a human and effective justice system.”
NZCVS replaces the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS), which was held less often – usually every 3 years with results taking 2-3 years to publish.