Police use phones, no need for base
Locals might have a ‘‘sentimental’’ attachment to them, but community police bases get as few as two or three visitors a month, one of the region’s top cops has revealed.
Kapiti-Mana area commander Paul Basham fronted to the Waikanae Community Board on Tuesday over the permanent closure of the town’s community police base.
The decision to close the Mahara Pl base permanently at the end of its lease was confirmed on Monday.
Basham said while there was a ‘‘sentimental’’ attachment to the base, police were deploying more officers than ever in Waikanae. Police ‘‘live off our phones’’ he said, which made their bases less useful for them.
He said the base had become more of a community-related resource than a police one.
‘‘I think there’s a perception that it’s a place people come in and report a lot of crime ... that’s not the case.’’
No officers operated from the base, which was staffed by a pool of 22 volunteers. Basham said police were exploring options to have the community service relocated.
Wellington district figures show about 75 per cent of all people who enter community police bases report lost property, he said.
Basham said some Wellington district bases, including Titahi Bay, Mana and Whitby, have only two or three people entering a month.
The Waikanae base has been closed temporarily since April as part of a nationwide front counter safety audit. The audit was provoked by the 2014 WINZ shooting in Ashburton and the assault of a police volunteer at the Manukau hub in April.
It would have cost between $15,000 and $25,000 to bring the Waikanae base up to standard, and it would have remained unmanned for between 18 months and two years before work could begin, Basham said.
The upgrade would have included CCTV installation, a change of counter configuration and an entry system featuring two sets of doors, like that seen in many banks, Basham said.
Base volunteer Gary Cooper said the volunteer group would look to set up elsewhere, although not as an official police group, doing work similar to what they did at the base.