Working hard to cull crime
Morrinsville Police Acting Sergeant Will Hamilton credits the hard work of his staff and members of the Morrinsville community with the apprehension of three people in recent weeks.
Three men, two 19-year-olds and one 20-yearold, were arrested on numerous charges including burglary, failing to stop for police, receiving stolen property and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.
Hamilton wouldn’t elaborate on whether these arrests have contributed to a decrease in criminal activity in Morrinsville, however he acknowledged how valuable reliable information from the community is.
‘‘We have relied heavily on feedback from the Morrinsville community and as a result of some of that feedback the whole team has had some outstanding lock ups,’’ he said.
One of the men has been remanded in custody after breaching his bail conditions, while the others are on strict bail conditions.
Hamilton wanted to reiterate how important it is to lock up your valuables, vehicles and property.
‘‘Unfortunately we don’t live in the same society where you can leave your possessions out and trust they won’t be taken,’’ he said.
‘‘We encourage people to continue to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to Crime Stoppers or directly to the Morrinsville police station.’’
Morrinsville Police are also cracking down on those who have faulty headlights as part of a Waikato-wide police initiative called Operation Cyclops.
Hamilton said it was important for motorists to have working headlights especially in winter driving conditions like fog and heavy rain.
Operation Cyclops is an initiative where driver education around the dangers of driving with faulty headlights is preferred rather than enforcement and Hamilton said if a driver received an infringement notice, they can have it waived if they managed to get the headlights fixed.
‘‘We really want to get the message out there about the dangers of driving on rural roads with headlights that don’t work properly.’’