4 Indicators of alcohol-related offending by those under 20 years old and all ages - disorderly behaviour
4.1 Police and court statistics
4.2
Summary
Until relatively recently, information was not generally available on whether a person was under the influence of alcohol when an offence was committed.[8] (The exception is where alcohol is part of the definition of the offence, e.g. driving under the influence of alcohol.) However, it is likely that many of the people committing disorderly behaviour offences were under the influence of alcohol when the offence was committed.
4.1 Police and court statistics
In this section Police apprehensions, rather than prosecutions or convictions, are used as a measure of offending for those under 18 years old.[9]
Table 4.1 Number of apprehensions for disorderly behaviour for those under 18 years old, and percentage of all disorderly behaviour apprehensions, 1994-2003
| Year |
Number under 18 years old |
Percentage of all disorderly behaviour |
| 1994 | 1850 | 17.2 |
| 1995 | 1922 | 16.7 |
| 1996 | 1965 | 15.9 |
| 1997 | 2103 | 17.1 |
| 1998 | 2286 | 17.8 |
| 1999 | 2242 | 16.8 |
| 2000 | 2454 | 16.6 |
| 2001 | 2672 | 16.8 |
| 2002 | 2982 | 17.9 |
| 2003 | 3131 | 17.1 |
Notes:
1 Disorderly behaviour offences are mostly behaving in a disorderly
or offensive manner (s.4 Summary Offences Act 1981), disorderly or threatening
behaviour (s.3 Summary Offences Act 1981), and fighting in a public place (s.7
Summary Offences Act 1981).
2 Source: New Zealand Police.
The number of apprehensions of people under 18 years old for disorderly behaviour has shown an increasing trend from 1850 in 1994 to 3131 in 2003. However, total apprehensions for disorderly behaviour for all age groups have also been increasing. The percentage of all apprehensions involving people under 18 years old has fluctuated between 16% and 18% each
year during this period, indicating that the trend for people under 18 is similar to that for older people. The increases are possibly due to changes in Police practice.
Figure 4.1 Number and percentage of apprehensions for disorderly behaviour for those under 18 years old, 1994-2002
Convictions, rather than apprehensions, are used as the measure of offending for those 18 or 19 years old because the provisions of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 generally do not apply to this age group.
Table 4.2 Number of convictions for disorderly behaviour for those between 18 and 19 years old, and percentage of all disorderly behaviour convictions, 1995-2004
| Year |
Number 18-19 years old |
Percentage of all disorderly behaviour convictions |
| 1995 | 474 | 15.8 |
| 1996 | 515 | 15.7 |
| 1997 | 548 | 17.0 |
| 1998 | 652 | 18.6 |
| 1999 | 712 | 18.4 |
| 2000 | 903 | 20.7 |
| 2001 | 1023 | 20.6 |
| 2002 | 1002 | 19.6 |
| 2003 | 1135 | 19.2 |
| 2004 | 1030 | 18.7 |
Notes:
1 Disorderly behaviour offences are mostly behaving in a
disorderly or offensive manner (s.4 Summary Offences Act 1981), disorderly or
threatening behaviour (s.3 Summary Offences Act 1981), and fighting in a public
place (s.7 Summary Offences Act 1981).
2 Source: Ministry of Justice.
Figure 4.2 Number and percentage of convictions for disorderly behaviour for 18 and 19 year olds, 1995-2004
The number of 18 and 19 year olds who were convicted of disorderly behaviour increased strongly throughout the decade (from 474 in 1995 to 1030 in 2004), as did the total number of convictions for disorderly behaviour for all age groups. The percentage of all disorderly behaviour convictions for 18 and 19 year olds increased between 1995 and 2000 (from 16% to 21%), then decreased slightly to 19% in 2004.
The number of disorderly behaviour offences committed by those under 18 years old, and those between 18 and 19 years old, increased after the changes to the Sale of Liquor Act 1989. However, disorderly behaviour offences also increased for older age groups - possibly due to changes in Police practice. For those under 18 years old, the increase in disorderly behaviour offending was similar to increases in other age groups. For those between 18 and 19 years old, the increase in 2000 was slightly greater than that for older age groups, although in the last four years the rate of increase has declined relative to other age groups.
Footnotes
8 From February or March 2005 questions have been added to the Police Chrage Sheets and Traffic Offence Notices as part of the Alco-Link project. It is expected that by September or October 2005 robust information will be available about the extent to which people arrested are observably affected by alcohol at the time of detection.
9 Because of the provisions of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 most young offenders (those between 14 and 16 years old) are not prosecuted in formal court proceedings. Police apprehensions for those between 14 and 17 are reported.
