The coalition government of National ACT and NZ First have announced that they’re going to reinstate what we call the Three Strikes Law – the law that gives clear consequences for repeat violent offenders.
Three Strikes operates on two angles – to those it can deter, it deters. To those it can’t deter, it incapacitates for longer periods to protect the public.
The data indicated that the previous ‘Three Strikes’ regime was accurately targeting the serious recidivist offenders.
The best and most obvious way to protect our communities from repeat violent offenders and from gun violence is to incapacitate the offenders. You can’t commit crimes against families and communities if you’re in prison. They are effectively being given two chances to stop their violent behaviour. Some would argue that’s 2 too many.
This law will send a clear message to repeat violent offenders, and will protect families and communities from worsening levels of family harm, violent crimes and gun violence. Read more: www.Threestrikeslaw.nz
TRANSCRIPT:
THREE STRIKES
I’m not sure if you’re old enough to remember – like me – but we use to leave our front door wide open. We use to put cash in our letterbox to pay for the milk. Our parents never worried about us walking to the nearby dairy without parental supervision. And barely anybody had a burglar alarm system in their house.
Today, our crime prevention strategy relies on restricting our freedom of movement by advising us to
Lock your doors and windows,
Keep valuables out of sight,
Install an alarm system,
get sensor lights fitted
even don’t post that you’re going on holiday on your social media.
The increase in heavy locks and chains, metal roller blinds for shop windows, private security patrols, has shown just how unsafe our community has become. Thousands of crimes now occur in broad daylight because offenders are unafraid of being caught, or if caught that the consequences will be minimal. It seems like the offenders have no fear, but that the general public are fearful of being caught in the middle of an armed robbery. How do dairy owners and jewellery store workers feel at the moment?
The latest NZ National Survey of Victims and Crime shows that Almost one in three New Zealander adults (31%) experienced crime over the last 12 months.
The incidence rate for violence offences which include sexual assault, other assault, robbery, harassment and threatening behaviour increased by 56 per cent in 2022
Even frontline services are expressing concern……………….
Notice that they say that the nature of it – the level of violence involved – is increasing.
Gang-related shootings and the use of firearms in general – including against our police – have become disturbingly normal. In 2021, gun-related injuries recorded by the police hit a new peak. Firearm related offences are nearly double that of just 10 years ago.
Family Violence callouts to the police have almost doubled in the past decade – from 102,000 in 2013 to 191,000 in 2023.
The coalition government of National ACT and NZ First have announced that they’re going to reinstate what we call the Three Strikes Law. – the law that gives clear consequences for repeat violent offenders.
A key reason for Three Strikes being introduced and receiving public support was widespread community outrage at serious violent or sexual offenders repeatedly getting parole and going on to commit more serious crimes. Remember William Bell and that horrific RSA case.
There was also concern about light sentences which were out of kilter with the community’s views.
Just examine any child abuse case before court to see the community outrage
When we submitted on this law when it was being considered in 2009, we highlighted research showing that for a crime of indecencies with a child or young person – a crime which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years and 10 years respectively – the median custodial sentence was 18 months and 13 months respectively!
So How does the three strikes regime work
There are 40 qualifying strike offences, It will cover the same 40 serious violent and sexual offences as the former 3-strikes legislation, with the addition of the new strangulation and suffocation offence; so we’re talking about crimes such as sexual violation, sexual connection with a child or young person, indecent act on a child, murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated robbery, kidnapping – that just some of them. The Three Strikes law will only apply to sentences above 24 months – 2 months;
STRIKE 1
If an offender is convicted of a strike offence (with no previous strike warnings), they receive an official first ‘strike’ warning.
STRIKE 2
If the offender is convicted of a second qualifying offence, they are given a final warning (second strike), and if they are sentenced to any time in prison as deemed appropriate by the judge, they may serve that full sentence given – without parole.
STRIKE 3
But If the offender is then convicted of a third qualifying offence the court must impose the maximum applicable penalty without parole, unless the court considers it would be manifestly unjust to do so.
STRIKE 2/3 – MURDER
Now, if the offender is convicted of murder on their second or third strike the court may impose a life sentence without parole, unless once again the court considers it manifestly unjust.
The Government says it will extend the use of the “manifestly unjust” exception to allow some judicial discretion to avoid very harsh outcomes and address outlier cases; and will provide a limited benefit for guilty pleas to avoid re-traumatisation of victims, and to improve court delays;
Three Strikes operates on 2 angles – to those it can deter, it deters. To those it can’t deter, it incapacitates for longer periods to protect the public. Pretty simple.
And Criminals aren’t stupid. They are well aware of the law and its consequences.
When the regime was scrapped by the previous Labour government, they effectively sent a message that we’re not serious about the It’s Not OK zero-tolerance message on family violence, or zero tolerance on gun violence or sexual assault. Is that why the interpersonal violence rate increased 56% in the same year that Labour scrapped the law. It’s a very good question!
Addressing the ‘underlying causes’ is relevant – that’s definitely a discussion in itself – as is the rehabilitation services which should be available to prisoners wanting to change their ways , but it doesn’t solve the immediate problem – protecting the public from violent offenders who keep offending.
So how many people has the law impacted?
The John Key-led government introduced the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act back in 2010, which set out New Zealand’s first attempt at Three Strikes legislation.
Since mid 2010 when it commenced
- There have been 13,349 first strikes
- There have been 640 second strikes (so 4.8% of 1st strikers have progressed to a 2nd strike)
- And then there have been 21 third strikes (so 3.2% of 2nd strikers have gone on to do a 3rd strike)
- If you look at how many 1st strikers graduated to a 3rd strike, it’s 0.16%. That’s very low. That’s a good thing.
It’s also pleasing that more than 95% of first strikers have not gone on to do a second strike. 95%+
Now let’s look at the those who have had a second or third strike. An Official Information Act request at the end of 2018 said that they:
- had an average of 42 convictions as an adult. For 3rd strikers, it’s an average of 74 convictions
- 91% were assessed as being at a high risk of reoffending
- 56% committed their 2nd strike on bail or parole or while serving a sentence.
- 40% have a “strike type” conviction from prior to the three strikes regime
This data indicates that the three strikes regime is accurately targeting the serious recidivist offenders.
The best and most obvious way to protect our communities from repeat violent offenders and from gun violence is to incapacitate the offenders. You can’t commit crimes against families and communities if you’re in prison. They are effectively being given two chances to stop their violent behaviour. Some would argue that’s two too many.
This law will send a clear message to repeat violent offenders, and will protect families and communities from worsening levels of family harm, violent crimes and gun violence.
One of the arguments you will hear for scrapping the law is that it disproportionately impacts Maori.
But what you won’t hear is this – Māori adults are significantly more likely to be victims – victims of crime – than the average adult.
The latest data says (quote): “Respondents who identify as Māori were significantly more likely to experience an offence by a family member (5.2%) than the New Zealand average (1.8%).”
Check this data from just last year
Look at the violent crime victims for Maori. Tragic.
Another argument is that we’re wasting money on prisons.
But instead of viewing prison-related expenses as a taxpayer burden, these expenses are an investment in the wellbeing, welfare and safety of families – and if done correctly, rehabilitation of the offender. They save costs such as lost productivity, medical care, security services, property damage loss, victim support, and intangibles such as reduced quality of life, pain, suffering, and mental anguish
When announcing their decision to scrap the law, the previous Government said that “there is little evidence that the law has reduced serious offending”
but they hadn’t asked victims or victim groups. The regulatory impact assessment report for this proposed scrapping of the law admits that no victims had been consulted at all.
The only official report around is the one from 2018 – 6 years after the first 3-strikes law was passed.
Ironically, in that 2018 report, Ministry of Justice officials admit
“…in comparison with second strikeable offences committed before the law came into effect there has been a drop in the number of second strike offences since the laws implementation.”
In fact official documents show that there was a 34% reduction in criminals moving from a strike 1 offence to a strike 2 offence when comparing before and after the law was passed. 34%. That’s 34% less victimisation.
But here’s some interesting data – remember those frontline people in the video who said that there’s not necessarily more offenders but that the nature of the crime is much more violent, this police data may confirm that. We have had a steady decline in the number of offenders – up until? You guessed it – 2022 when Labour removed the 3 Strikes Law. And then its started to increase. A coincidence?
Perhaps the law IS having the desired deterrent effect.
A repeated ‘slap on the wrist’ for violence undermines our efforts to reduce tolerance for violence.
One of the other objections to the law is that it punishes offenders on their 3rd strike with the full force of the law – and they tend to quote the “bottom pincher” who under the law should receive the full punishment of 7 years for indecent assault. It’s actually worth reading the full facts of that case. Read the victim impact statement. But as we said before, the law allows for the prescribed sentence to be different if the court considers the sentence manifestly unjust. But I’m not so sure that the MeToo movement think we should be minimising these actions – and rightly so.
Despite being eligible for parole two years ago, the parole board did not release the “bottom pincher” and wanted more treatment to reduce the risk of violent and sexual offending.
Ironically, when Labour chucked out the law in 2022 the then-Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi also said “the public don’t like this law”
We’ve released some independent polling last year that shows that only 16% oppose the 3 Strikes Law – the green section represents support – 2 out of 3 kiwis 65% – and you’ll notice that Labour supporters and even 41% of Green voters support it.
In our next video, we’ll introduce you to some strikers. It will give you a picture of the type of offenders being caught by the law. You’ll quickly realise how important this law is.
We believe the three strikes regime is accurately targeting the serious recidivist offenders.
The best and most obvious way to protect the community from repeat violent offenders and from gun violence is to incapacitate the offenders. You can’t commit crimes against families and communities if you’re in prison. They are effectively being given two chances to stop their violent behaviour. For many its not Strike 3 – it’s sometimes Strike 17 or Strike 29.
Reintroducing the Three Strikes Law will protect families and communities from worsening levels of family harm, violent crimes and gun violence.
Go to three strikes law dot nz for more information.
We’ll also provide more detail on how you can make a submission on the Three Strikes Law version two when the Government releases the full legislation to Parliament.
That’s three strikes law dot nz
——————————————————————————————————————————
Let’s meet a couple of “strikers”. It will give you a picture of the type of offenders being caught by the law. You’ll quickly realise how important this law is.
So, to conclude, the three strikes regime is accurately targeting the serious recidivist offenders.
The best and most obvious way to protect the community from repeat violent offenders and from gun violence is to incapacitate the offenders. You can’t commit crimes against families and communities if you’re in prison. They are effectively being given two chances to stop their violent behaviour. For many its not Strike 3 – it’s sometimes Strike 17 or Strike 29.
Reintroducing the Three Strikes Law will protect families and communities from worsening levels of family harm, violent crimes and gun violence.
Go to three strikes law dot nz for more information.
That’s three strikes law dot nz
