FROM THE NEWS DESK

A group of community volunteers have decided to press ahead with plans to form a community patrol for Cambridge. This has spun out of the petition which was presented to police and political leaders asking for the reinstatement of 24/7 police coverage of Cambridge. At the moment, the town is covered by police staff from Te Awamutu at night. People have complained about the increase in criminal activity since police stopped basing staff in Cambridge during night hours. The community patrol faces a few challenges to get up and going, such as costs and nailing down volunteer numbers, but there’s a core group behind it determined to make it work, realising that the petition is probably going to fail. The best bet is to come up with their own solution to the problem and a night patrol could help deal with the situation. The patrol will not replace police, but rather becoming the eyes and ears of police to help identify suspicious behaviour.

Lawrence Gullery