Christchurch Central

Christchurch Central recorded 1,276 offences in the last 12 months. It has about 105 residents, which is below the 500-resident threshold we use for comparing rates, so its crime rate per 1,000 people is not a reliable comparison with other suburbs. Judge it on the offence count, not the rate.

The most common offence category in Christchurch Central is theft, with 871 recorded offences in the last 12 months — about 68% of all offences recorded there. The next most common is assault (270).

Recorded offences in Christchurch Central have risen 13.4% over the most recent three-month period compared with the previous three months. This is a three-month comparison, not a year-on-year one, and short windows move around a lot in small areas.

Christchurch Central ranks 3 of 331 suburbs in Canterbury Region by crime rate, where 1 is the highest rate. This is a ranking of recorded crime, not a safety rating, and it compares Christchurch Central only with other suburbs in Canterbury Region — not with the rest of New Zealand.

Figures for Christchurch Central, Christchurch City come from New Zealand Police recorded victimisation data, published through police.govt.nz, and are grouped to Stats NZ Statistical Area 2 (SA2) boundaries. They count offences recorded by Police, so they reflect reporting and recording practice as well as underlying offending.