Drop in holiday crime
A combination of Police messaging, behind the scenes initiatives and
proactive work by businesses is being credited for an overall drop in
dishonesty offending in Hamilton over the school holidays.
City Prevention Manager, Acting Inspector Kent Holdsworth, said usually
Police were having to up the ante in terms of crime prevention messaging over
holiday periods as school age youths with too much time on their hands
created issues for home and business owners alike.
"That was certainly the case in May when Police warned of a spate of
burglaries carried out by school aged offenders but we're pleased to report a
lot of people have heeded our warnings and this time we're reporting good
news instead of bad.
"Following the May issues Police invested a lot of time speaking to home and
business owners about proactive measures they could take to protect their
homes and stores, an example of this was the 80 per cent drop in reported
burglaries around the university following a multi-phased Police operation."
Mr Holdsworth said business owners had also shown a heightened awareness
around store security resulting in reduced levels of shoplifting through
better layout and design of shop interiors.
"Our staff have been out and about visiting businesses talking to them about
everything from ideal store layout, best practice on securing takings,
truancy initiatives and things like the requirements of the new Psychoactive
Substances Act.
"Another real positive has been the initiatives taken by schools to improve
their security and secure expensive electronic items that are often
attractive to burglars."
Mr Holdsworth said boards of trustees had been doing a fantastic job in
addressing issues of safety and security, not just over the holidays but for
every day business as usual.
"The initiative between Police and Selecta DNA where all Waikato Schools were
supplied with synthetic DNA packs to mark their valuables to deter theft and
receiving of stolen goods is also making a difference in preventing crime.
"At the same time our staff have been working with the young people
themselves introducing initiatives in schools and with service providers to
address development with not just at risk youths but mentoring programmes
with identified potential leaders as well as developing mentors."
Programmes in place include the Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit
and Support (Cactus) course held in conjunction with Fairfield College, the
Kirikiriroa marae based E Oho Rangatahi i programme currently underway and
the Big Brother Big Sister initiative.
"What you are seeing is Police actively engaging with youth, teachers, school
staff, service providers and local community groups to identify sustainable
initiatives to prevent crime and support youth development.
"The key thing is the initiatives need to be sustainable to work, and while
these are underway parents and caregivers can play their part in ensuring
their children are supervised, not just in the holidays but during the school
term."
Mr Holdsworth said businesses can ask any Police station for advice on how to
best protect their store from shop lifters and after- hours intrusion.
"We're talking about layout and design, not just where stuff is on the
shelves but visibility, locks, alarms, bollards, security options etc, your
local Police will be only too happy to help.
"The public can play their part as well, dishonesty offending includes
everything from home burglary to shoplifting, theft ex car and receiving."
Mr Holdsworth said initiatives earlier in the year saw Police officers
patrolling residential areas in unmarked cars where homes and garages were
often seen with doors and windows left open.
"Do the basics, close them, lock them and don't invite opportunist burglars
to target your home."
Another way the public can help Police is to ensure they report a crime has
happened.
"An example of this is thefts from cars. With free replacement glass on a lot
of insurance policies and a lot of people finding the replacement cost of
small electronic items is less than their excess, a lot of people don't
bother to report their car has been broken into.
"That makes it difficult for Police to identify hot areas. A recent example
of this is thefts from cars at Waikato Hospital. Over recent months Police
have noticed a marked reduction in the number of reported break-ins but
thanks to good communications with the hospital we were aware this was not
the case and were able to identify there was an issue and arrest three
teenagers."
Mr Holdsworth said Police need to know about crime when it occurs so they can
not only investigate that offence but identify issues and take steps to
prevent further victimisation.
"Its all about the public helping us to ensure we have the right people in
the right place at the right time, the bottom line is if you see something-
do something and that's phone Police."
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