Station closures spark concerns in community

Three community police centres will close after a decision not to renew their leases.

Ellerslie, Panmure and Epsom in Auckland centres were closed temporarily after an attack on an Auckland police volunteer in April.

Police have confirmed all three sites will close for good and their leases will not be renewed.

The closures are the latest casualties in a long list of community policing closures, in September community policing sites and kiosks were closed to the public across Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson and Arrowtown.

There are concerns that the temporary closures were masking plans to permanently close many of the bases.

Epsom Neighbourhood Watch secretary Carolyne Jackson says the group is unsure what is going to happen to the Epsom base in the future.

‘‘At present we have a degree of uncertainty about the future of the existence of a local community centre in Epsom,’’ she says.

ACT MP David Seymour said the volunteers working at the policing centres had been ‘‘hit by the perfect storm’’.

It’s the combination of new health and safety legislation, the landlord wanting their property back and funding changes taking place across the police force, he says.

‘‘I’m determined to help them continue to operate.’’

The number of police walking the beat in Palmerston North has also dropped, while crime figures were on the rise.

Figures released under the Official Information Act showed the number of police patrolling the streets on foot dropped from 5414 in the year to June 2015, to 3877 in the following 12 months – a 28.4 per cent decrease.

Manawatu area crime prevention manager Inspector Dave White said foot patrols gave police visibility in the community and enabled police to understand community problems and concerns.

"They can lead to reductions for certain types of crime but are not effective on their own for all crime types."

White said crime prevention went far beyond the simple count of foot patrols.

‘‘We are constantly evolving the way that we operate to be efficient and effective.’’

Overall, crime in the Manawatu was on the rise, with assaults increasing in the past year by 40 per cent and the number of robberies rising my 54.3 per cent.

We are constantly evolving the way that we operate to be efficient and effective. Dave White