Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has sought to contextualise new data showing that Auckland City has the most homicides per capita in the country.
Police data from 2020 to 2026 shows that the district leads the nation in fatal violent crime with a whopping 3.6 homicides per capita, meaning that the average Auckland City resident killed between 3 and 4 people in that six year period.*
*Police have since clarified to media that it is in fact 3.6 per 100,000.
The district also boasted a surprising amount of fatal non-violent crime.
But while some are calling the city the “murder capital” of New Zealand, Brown has rejected the label, saying that it’s a well established principle around the world that a capital city is not always its biggest, and a murder capital therefore shouldn’t be judged upon where has the most murder.
“Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It doesn’t have the most capital. It doesn’t have the most city. But it’s the capital, because it’s where people go to do governance,” said Brown. “There’s more bloody governance that goes on around here if you ask me, but that’s not the point. This isn’t where you think of when you think government.
“So when I think of a murder capital, I think, where do people go to do murder? It’s not here. I don’t think people come here to murder. It just happens.”
Brown blamed the district’s murder rate on the Government, specifically Simeon Brown.
“Desperate people do desperate things,” he said. “Violent crime spikes when social cohesion collapses. I’ve always said that local government deals with places, and central government deals with people. Maintaining social cohesion, more police on the beat, that’s not our responsibility.
“That’s the Government’s responsibility. That’s Simeon’s responsibility.”
It was put to the mayor that Simeon Brown was currently Minister for Health and Energy.
“I don’t care,” he said.
We put this to other mayors around the country, some of whom agreed with Brown’s characterisation of a capital city.
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said that her city may well have a fair claim to the title.
“We don’t have the most murders down here,” she said. “But when we do, boy, they’re pretty spectacular. You all know the one. I can’t think of any Auckland murders that people are still talking about 32 years later.”
Auckland City district commander, Superintendent Sunny Patel, said it was understandable the public may feel uneasy about getting stabbed to death, but that ultimately the numbers reflected a “statistical ebb and flow”, and that each case was different, and not part of a wider trend.
“I often say the most important thing we can do in the community is maintain a visible presence,” he said. “Visibility is so important, not just so people can feel safe, but also so that criminals know, if you’re thinking of murdering here, well, go do it somewhere else. Plenty of other good spots for murdering.”
He advised that members of the public that did not wish to be murdered follow the police.
“A good rule of thumb is, if you can see an officer, then you can feel safe.”
Asked if New Zealanders could feel safe at other times, he replied “Absolutely not.”
He also advised that the public be on the look out for “those big red trucks, with hoses and ladders on”, which he said were seen suspiciously frequently at the scene of serious incidents.