Area commander appointed
A new police boss is in town with a fresh plan of attack for tackling crime.
Inspector Dave Glossop has been appointed Counties Manukau South area commander, making him in charge from Takanini to the Red Fox Tavern in Maramarua.
Glossop has been in the new role for just over one month. Spending his time in Papakura or Pukekohe is made with a simple decision every morning on his way to work.
‘‘I drive out of my driveway and say, ‘do I turn left or do I turn right today?’’’
Glossop has been in the police for 28 years and has spent 13 years working in the south.
His last role as Counties Manukau district prevention manager saw him tasked with stopping crime before it happened.
His experience identifying crime trends and coming up with tactics to solve them is now being applied in Pukekohe and Papakura.
There were a number of key strategies he wanted to work on, he said.
Having a stronger police presence on the roads to ‘‘deny criminals the use of the roads’’ is one approach.
‘‘This is not anything about revenue gathering … if we have high risk locations then we need to have a presence and we need to be pulling over anybody who’s remotely suspicious.’’
Glossop says he would also be making the police more visible by increasing foot patrols, attending community meetings and using more marked police cars over unmarked cars.
Managing repeat offenders is another aspect Glossop aims to focus on.
As well as identifying and targeting repeat offenders, police will be working closely with community groups involved in helping put people on the right track, he said.
And lastly, making the town centres safe and secure is another strong focus. This would be achieved by foot patrols and assisting businesses with improved environmental design such as lighting, he said.
‘‘Policing is actually quite simple and I really want to strip it back and get back to the basics and those four areas are where I see we can get the best return on investment,’’ Glossop said.
‘‘That’s what the community expects of me and that I use the resources I have as effectively and efficiently as possible.’’