Crime Prevention Unit

History of the Crime Prevention Unit

The Crime Prevention Unit ( CPU) was established in 1993 in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

In October 1994, Cabinet released its first policy directive on crime prevention, the Crime Prevention Strategy. Previous Cabinet responses to crime focussed on managing and responding to crime after the event, rather than its prevention.

Between 1994 and 2002, 65 Safer Community Councils (SCCs) were established by Territorial and Iwi Authorities. The CPU funded these SCCs to co-ordinate local crime prevention and reduction activities.

In 2001, the CPU joined the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry). This allowed the CPU to better align its activities with those of the Ministry and the wider justice sector.

Also in 2001, the Crime Prevention Strategy was replaced by the Crime Reduction Strategy (CRS). The CRS sets out the Government’s priorities for preventing offending and responding to offending. All CPU activity is designed to achieve the goals of the CRS.

A 2003 review found that crime reduction results under the SCC model were inconsistent and hard to measure. As a result, the CPU introduced a funding system for crime reduction activities based on community need.