Cops shut up shop after attack on volunteer

IT has been two months since the woman behind the counter at a Paper Plus store had a gun shoved in her face. She still has flashbacks. She is still frightened for her life.

The woman and her two coworkers, who don’t want to be named, said they were traumatised and didn’t feel safe in the St Heliers, Auckland store.

If only, they said, the police had been nearby. But they’re not, and it took officers more than 20 minutes to reach them after the alleged attack on July 29.

The men were eventually found by police after multiple police units, including the Eagle helicopter and a dog unit, later tracked them down.

Five doors down from where the workers were allegedly attacked by two men – one brandishing a gun, another a meat cleaver – the community police base has officially shut down for the time being.

Police have now revealed that St Heliers is one of 23 bases, stations and kiosks temporarily closed to the public after an attack on an Auckland police volunteer in April. The bases are in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson and Arrowtown.

Earlier this month, police announced the Waikanae community base would close permanently. Sources say at least two major bases in the Auckland suburbs of Ellerslie and Panmure will follow suit.

Acting deputy commissioner Allan Boreham said local commanders would decide whether to upgrade safety to allow bases to reopen with volunteers.

Police decided not to spend the $15,000 to $25,000 needed to refit the Waikanae base, but KapitiMana area commander Paul Basham denied the closure was due to cost-cutting.

At Paper Plus in St Heliers, store manager Shabana Hakim said she and her employees were still shaken by the robbery.

‘‘I feel unsafe knowing there’s a police station here that’s abandoned. I thought there were police looking after us,’’ said one young staff member. ‘‘Because of what I experienced here, it could easily happen again. But people could be more scared knowing there’s a open police station four doors away from us. It would give us a sense of security.’’

Police are also reviewing the future of at least another 105 small stations, amid concerns about their safety. Some are operating at reduced hours, but the police could not say how many, or which ones.

Some of those stations will be reviewed and upgraded over the next 12 to 36 months. Hamilton station is the first to trial a higher, deeper, safer front counter design.

Still more police stations appear to be nominally open, but functionally closed. Greytown has been ‘‘effectively closed’’ to the public since a 2014 restructure, district commander Donna Howard confirmed.

Ngaruawahia station was supposed to be open 8am-4pm weekdays but a police phone operator admitted there was hardly ever anyone there.

Boreham said the police remained committed to police stations, expected to retain about 350 sites and were investing in mobile technology to allow officers to spend more time on the road.

‘‘I don’t need them invisible behind a door, I need them out in the community. In terms of general policing, we’ve never delivered as much service as we currently deliver,’’ he said.

‘ I feel unsafe knowing there’s a police station here that’s abandoned.’ ARMED ROBBERY VICTIM