A new use for genealogy? Courtesy of Dick Eastman's "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter " Ron A New Opportunity for Genealogists: Criminology Are you an expert in documenting family trees? Can you tie together the relationships of many people? If so, as a public service, you might like to help the Christchurch, New Zealand, Police Department find some criminals. Christchurch police are targeting the ten families with the most prolific offenders - and have taken the unusual step of preparing family trees to help keep track of all the family members. By knowing who is related to whom, police are able to identify possible suspects much more quickly than by regular investigative means. It seems that the ten criminal families have cost New Zealand taxpayers $53 million to bring them to justice. The $53 million figure is based on a Treasury study that calculated the cost of crime. The figure, which is known to be conservative, covers police, court, and prison costs, but excludes the cost of youth offences dealt with in alternative ways. Of the 177 members of the top crime families living in the Canterbury region, 127 have come to police notice. Over five years they were arrested for 1808 offences, ranging from burglary to assault, vehicle thefts, and drugs. One four-generation family of 74 has clocked up 673 offences nationally, costing $2.4 million over five years. One couple, a 53-year old woman and her 52-year-old partner with 70 charges between them, had produced four prolific burglar sons. The eldest, at 26, had 99 offences, mostly for vehicle theft. His youngest brother, 18, was catching up with 71. Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Sandra Manderson said: "These families ... are not in the top 10 for any other reason than they are very prolific offenders and they have criminality running right through their family." I can see the arrest scene now: "Honest, officer, I'm not the man you want. Here's my pedigree chart to prove it." ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Hi Ron Although I originated from Kiwi Land and am now living in Australia this is interesting. The family came from Taranaki in the North Island and after some were incarcerated in Christchurch the rest of the family went to the South Island and no doubt were funded by the Government so that could make regular visits to the prison. Also I have retired from work as of last week so will be doing some more research including a few Luddington's that are on my hard to find list Regards and Merry Christmas to all the Ludd families Regards Gerry in sunny Brisbane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Ludington" <ronlud@yahoo.com> To: "Ludd group" <LUDDINGTON@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 11:48 PM Subject: [LUDDINGTON] (no subject) >A new use for genealogy? > > Courtesy of Dick Eastman's "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter " > > Ron > > > A New Opportunity for Genealogists: Criminology > Are you an expert in documenting family trees? Can you tie together the > relationships of many people? If so, as a public service, you might like > to help the Christchurch, New Zealand, Police Department find some > criminals. > Christchurch police are targeting the ten families with the most prolific > offenders - and have taken the unusual step of preparing family trees to > help keep track of all the family members. By knowing who is related to > whom, police are able to identify possible suspects much more quickly than > by regular investigative means. > It seems that the ten criminal families have cost New Zealand taxpayers > $53 million to bring them to justice. The $53 million figure is based on a > Treasury study that calculated the cost of crime. The figure, which is > known to be conservative, covers police, court, and prison costs, but > excludes the cost of youth offences dealt with in alternative ways. > Of the 177 members of the top crime families living in the Canterbury > region, 127 have come to police notice. Over five years they were arrested > for 1808 offences, ranging from burglary to assault, vehicle thefts, and > drugs. > One four-generation family of 74 has clocked up 673 offences nationally, > costing $2.4 million over five years. One couple, a 53-year old woman and > her 52-year-old partner with 70 charges between them, had produced four > prolific burglar sons. The eldest, at 26, had 99 offences, mostly for > vehicle theft. His youngest brother, 18, was catching up with 71. > Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Sandra Manderson said: "These > families ... are not in the top 10 for any other reason than they are very > prolific offenders and they have criminality running right through their > family." > I can see the arrest scene now: "Honest, officer, I'm not the man you > want. Here's my pedigree chart to prove it." > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. > http://new.mail.yahoo.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LUDDINGTON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message