This article somewhat misses the point about why people are so concerned about crime, in my view. We have recently had a number of high profile, very public, violent crimes in the last few months. Dairy robberies, ram raids, shootings in the middle of the CBD, motorists being beaten by dirt bikers.
It's honestly unhelpful and insensitive to say "statistically speaking" when people are seeing this happen all around them.
The Wellington CBD, for example, is definitely less safe than a few years ago, with people getting aggressive with you for no reason. We also had a violent robbery of a jeweller's shop quite recently as well.
What really didn't help was the emergency accommodation, it brought a bunch of people into the CBD that otherwise would have been somewhere with a much lower cost of living.
There's always been homeless around Wellington, but I certainly don't remember them having the attitude they do now.