Brief crime prevention in communities

Crime was, and still is, a hot topic as discovers for our series

In 2010, an expansion of a community policing initiative meant Hamilton constables would be stationed in Hamilton East, Nawton and Enderley.

Now seven years later, these community constables are nowhere to be seen.

Looking back on an article published in Hamilton Press, the redevelopment of resources was an attempt to knock the city from its perch as one of the more crimeprone areas of New Zealand.

At the time, police statistics showed that of the 44 policing areas in New Zealand, Hamilton had the highest crime volume and was consistently in the top four for burglaries.

Hamilton Area Commander Inspector Rob Lindsay said the redeployment had a focus on youth crime.

It was quoted that about 25 per cent of burglaries were committed by juveniles aged under 17.

Two years prior, improvements were made in Melville with a community policing unit based at the former Richmond Park School.

The Melville experience had proved a success, with drops of 50-60 per cent in burglaries and 60 per cent in graffiti.

Crime rates have been the talk of the town in Hamilton this year, with Nawton community advocate and Western Community Centre manager Neil Tolan speaking up about the lack of police initiative in an article published in January.

‘‘[People] are frustrated because we don’t have what we used to have. We don’t have local community constables,’’ he said.

‘‘The police don’t have the funds to do the work the community wants them to do. Everyone is saying that now. We’ve been saying this for three years.’’

Tolan was one of a number of Hamilton community advocates who, in 2014, said the loss of community constables would have a drastic impact on neighbourhoods and would see crimes go unreported.

In February this year, Tolan, as well as former Labour MP Sue Moroney and Hamilton city councillor and former police officer James Casson jointly launched a petition calling for the reintroduction of community based police officers.

They told the reporter suburbs such as Nawton had seen a rise in crime after police opted for the more centralised mobile police deployment system.

As it stands, Hamilton has a community policing team but there are no longer constables who take ownership of one particular community.

Left: A front page of the Hamilton Press in 2010 showed a time when police staff were stationed in communities. Above: Nawton community advocate Neil Tolan wants to see a return to community policing.