Solutions wanted to stop crime
When the going gets tough, the Morrinsville community steps up and gets going.
Offers of help from businesses and people have flooded in for the residents of St Matthew’s retirement village. Crims slashed the tyres of cars owned by elderly people living at the village last week.
The community responded to the crime with offers of help, love and care.
Morrinsville Community Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page administrator Nicki Quinn set up a bank account for people wanting to help and said the support had been outstanding.
People worried about the recent spate of crime are being encouraged to attend a meeting this Thursday, June 22, starting at 7pm, at the Morrinsville Events Centre.
Matamata-Piako District Council’s Morrinsville ward councillor Paul Cronin organised the community security meeting after a run of crime including intentional damage to property, burglaries and car thefts.
Cronin said he understood the anger residents felt as victims of crime but he wanted to come up with proactive solutions to deal with the issues.
The meeting would not be about ‘‘setting up a vigilante response’’.
The hype that is going on now is seeing people who are going about their everyday business being questioned by other members of the public.
Cronin said what he is hoping is to get some sense of a community response that acts as a deterrent as well as addresses some of the root issues around offending.
He also wanted to make it clear that the recent trouble is not just about youth offending.
‘‘A community problem needs a community response, I am concerned about the stereotyping of offenders,’’ he said.
As to what comes out of the meeting, Cronin said he believes there is enough support to drive a response.
‘‘Last year when the Morrinsville Training Centre withdrew from youth training I believed that we could see an increase in youth offending because a lack of engagement and positive role models, this appears to have come true,’’ he said.
‘‘If we can get community support then we can lobby for support from Central Government to help fund a response.’’