Crime, Law and Justice in New Zealand

Book excerpt: Crime, Law and Justice in New Zealand examines the recent crime trends and the social, political, and legal changes in New Zealand from the end of the twentieth century to the present. Serving as the only New Zealand–specific criminal justice text, this book takes a direct look at what is unique about the country’s criminal justice system and recent crime trends. Crime rates peaked in the early 1990s and have fallen since. Newbold considers why this happened through factors such as economy, ethnic composition, changing cultural trends, and legislative developments in policing and criminal justice. He unpacks various types of crime separately—violent crime, property crime, drug crime, gang crime, organised crime, etc.—and examines each in terms of the various complex factors affecting it, using illustrative examples from recent high-profile cases. The cover photo for Crime, Law and Justice in New Zealand was taken by Jono Rotman.