Auckland City – one of three police districts in the wider Tāmaki Makaurau region – has the highest number of homicides per capita.
It’s the title no district wants.
But new police data shows Auckland City is New Zealand’s homicide capital – recording more victims of fatal violent crime than any other police district between January 2020 and March 2026.
The city district is the centre of the city’s metropolitan area, sitting between Waitematā and Counties Manukau.
It stretches between Herne Bay and Freeman’s Bay to the north, St Heliers to the east, Onehunga in the south and Avondale in the west and includes Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands.
Geographically, Auckland City is the smallest of the 12 police districts.
On the numbers alone, Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty recorded the highest number of homicides in the period, followed by Auckland City, Central and Waikato.
Homicide is defined by the Crimes Act 1961 as “the killing of a human being by another, directly or indirectly, by any means whatsoever”.
Police said Auckland City recorded 3.6 homicides per capita from January 2020 to March 2026.
Waikato had 3.04 homicides per capita, Northland 2.41 and Counties Manukau 2.17.
The district with the lowest number of homicides per person was Tasman, with a rate of 0.23.
The homicides in Auckland City in the past seven years included Pauline Hanna at her Remuera home in April 2021.
The 63-year-old’s death sparked one of New Zealand’s most high-profile criminal cases after her husband, Auckland eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, was charged with her murder.
He was found not guilty by a jury in 2024.
A coronial inquest is now examining the circumstances of Hanna’s death and whether it was self-inflicted or caused by another person.
In May 2024, Killer Beez gang member Hone Kay-Selwyn shot Robert Sidney Horne dead on Ponsonby Rd.
After being denied entry to a bar, the 31-year-old discharged multiple shots towards a group of four people getting out of a parked car, fatally striking Robert Sidney Horne.
Two days later, the killer was found dead at a rural property outside Taupō.
Maxwel-Dee Repia was fatally shot on September 5, 2024, on Tuarangi Rd in Grey Lynn, Auckland, after an escalating neighbourhood feud.
The 18-year-old died from a single gunshot wound to the chest after an altercation involving property damage and threats between two groups of teenagers.
Three of his associates were also wounded.
Kayden Stanaway pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder and was handed down a finite sentence of 16 years’ imprisonment, with a stipulation that he serve at least half of that before he can begin to apply for parole.
Stanaway told the court he fired his gun in self-defence when Repia and four others showed up across the street from his home.
In November 2023, North Shore Hospital nurse Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok, 66, and his wife, Mei Han Chong, 67, were killed at their Ellerslie home.
Lok Fung Lorrence Li is currently on trial facing two counts of murder and another of conspiracy to murder.
The 29-year-old has admitted he took part in the killing of the couple, but claims he is guilty of manslaughter – not murder.
Adrian Selwyn, 39, was found dead at the Auckland Newmarket Motel in Epsom in March 2023.
He had been brutally assaulted and kicked in the head during a dispute about a methamphetamine purchase.
Alex Fausia pleaded guilty to manslaughter, drug and firearms charges and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Fausia’s older brother Andrew and associate John Logo were also charged with manslaughter. Those charges were later dropped and the pair were eventually sent to prison for drug trafficking instead.
In December 2025, Sefo Leger, 59, was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack on an Auckland Transport bus.
Leger was travelling from Glen Innes towards Ōrākei and was preparing to disembark when he was attacked.
Adrian Soane Patita Pani, 36, was arrested the next day. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Auckland City district commander Superintendent Sunny Patel acknowledged that in recent years the area had “experienced a high volume of homicide investigations”.
“In our view this was more likely to be the exception rather than the norm,” he said.
“Behind every case there are different circumstances at play, so there is no one trend behind the spike in homicide investigations at that time. In some cases, these may involve a person with complicated dynamics in their relationships or affected by mental health issues or other substance addictions.
“In most of those cases, we had victims and offenders known to each other in a range of different locations. They may also simply just be a tragic set of events that occur that no one could have predicted.
“Amongst these numbers, we recognise that some of these events occurred in very public places.”
Patel said police “shared the community’s concern” whenever there was a violent crime.
“Particularly when someone loses their life,” he said.
“Having homes, roads and communities that are safe are our priority. Police work to support a range of agencies that are involved in working to reduce harm across a range of societal issues, including family harm and mental health.
“Preventing harm is something we all focus on, and this can include a wide range of strategies including disrupting organised crime, unlawful firearms, and other criminal activity that has the propensity to attract or commit violence.”
Patel said police were focused on the visibility of officers in particularly busy public spaces so that “the public can feel safe going about their day”.
He assured that behind each homicide were “teams of dedicated investigators” supported by other frontline and service groups “as part of the wider response”.
“While there were periods of time that saw our investigation teams working at capacity, they have worked quickly to ensure a high resolution rate and putting those responsible before the court,” he told the Herald.
“These have resulted in convictions, with some prosecutions still ongoing.
“Pleasingly, we have not seen the same numbers around homicides during 2026. Should we see such a pattern emerge again, police will always look to assess any trends and whether we need to take any preventive steps to prevent further escalations or ongoing violence.”
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown appeared to blame the district’s murder rate on the Government.
“Desperate people do desperate things, and violent crime spikes when social cohesion collapses,” he said.
“I’ve always said central government deals with people and local government deals with places – they do need to step up more on policing and social support services.
“There’s only so much we can do; ratepayers shouldn’t be paying for what is essentially Government’s responsibility. I expect the Government to live up to its part of the Auckland Deal, for government agencies to work in partnership with council to support enforcement tools like strengthened bylaws and legislative change when it’s needed, to curb antisocial behaviour and ensure Aucklanders can feel safe in their city.”
Brown also implied deportees were contributing to the homicide rate.
“Australia also keeps sending 501s our way – people who have already committed violent crimes … so that obviously doesn’t help the situation on our streets,” he said.
“I’d like to see the Government negotiate for better solutions here; they’re uprooted from social connections in Oz, arrive here with barely anything and with criminal pasts – that sounds like a problematic mix to me.”
Brown said in 2024 he took the “unusual step” of allocating “mayoral office funding directly into city centre safety”.
“Tripling our CityWatch wardens, boosting CCTV, and setting up safety hubs,” he said.
“This continues every year through the operational budget.
“Policing and health aren’t traditionally council jobs, but keeping our city centre safe and inviting is vital for Aucklanders and local businesses.”
Brown said ultimately, the solution to violent crime was an increase in police numbers.
“Using simple statistics to reflect a complex social situation, over which council has little control, doesn’t give a full picture,” he said.
“Sensationalised headlines don’t solve complex social problems – getting more police on the beat does.”
How police collated the data
The figures are based on a count of homicide victims from January 2020 to March 2026. Data from January 2023 onwards is provisional and includes cases where investigations are ongoing.
Police district homicide rates were calculated using police population estimates based on customised Stats NZ data. Rates are shown per 100,000 people and averaged across the period from January 2020 to March 2026.
Police said the population estimates are specific to police district boundaries and are not comparable with other published population data.
Homicides 2020-2026:
Auckland City 50 Waikato 45 Northland 41 Counties Manukau 69 Wellington 42 Bay of Plenty 69 Canterbury 44 Eastern 36 Central 47 Southern 27 Waitematā 37 Tasman 9
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers Christchurch issues and national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence and homicides. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime , released monthly on nzherald.co.nz.
