Crime & safety

Wellington's overall crime rate is moderate by New Zealand standards, but victimisation is heavily concentrated in high-deprivation communities in Porirua and Hutt Valley. Repeat victimisation — where a small share of the population accounts for a disproportionate share of incidents — is a structural feature of Wellington's crime landscape.

Family violence is the most prevalent form of serious crime in Wellington, with high call volumes to police in Porirua and parts of Hutt Valley. Housing stress, economic hardship, alcohol and drug use, and a system that historically underresponds are the dominant drivers. Intergenerational transmission of family violence is a major policy concern.

Youth offending in Wellington is geographically concentrated in Porirua and Hutt Valley, reflecting structural drivers: economic deprivation, housing instability, high school disengagement rates, and limited supervised youth development infrastructure. Young people in high-deprivation areas are substantially overrepresented in justice system contact, and early intervention programmes are underfunded relative to need.

Wellington has an established gang presence centred in Porirua, with spillover into Hutt Valley. Gang-organised drug markets — methamphetamine in particular — are linked to both supply-side violence and demand-side property crime across the wider Wellington region.