Crime prevention key
Crime prevention will be a key focus for Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley in her new role as the Balclutha-based CluthaTaieri area response manager.
The Stirling-born policewoman and mother of three grown-up sons, brings home to the Clutha district a blend of old-fashioned policing and experience in the application of new technology.
A crime prevention measure she’d like introduced is the forensic marking system SelectaDNA, in use in Southland and nationwide in recent years.
Protecting farm equipment is one of its main purposes, in the event that any items are stolen and recovered by police.
Objects are sprayed with a substance containing a unique synthetic DNA signature, and the code recorded on a database that can be traced back to the owner.
The system is also suitable for use by schools and businesses.
Even the SelectaDNA sign can be a deterrent, she said. ’’It’s a message to criminals ‘don’t bother’.’’
Tackling the increasing number of rural thefts is an issue Fairley is very familiar with, in a 24-year career spent in Southland, before returning to Balclutha three weeks ago to take up her new post, replacing retired Senior Sergeant Al Dickie.
‘‘I’ve got an advantage having a rural background, and I’ve got an understanding and empathy for rural people about what struggles that may be happening.’’
Fairley will be using her experience and detective training to ensure that more information is shared between Southland and Otago, to prevent crime and catch criminals.
Recording serial numbers was also a simple thing she’d be encouraging people to do, she said.
‘‘We could solve a lot more crime on rural properties if we had serial numbers.’’
Rural people can be complacent about security, and with storage of equipment, particularly firearms.
‘‘It just gives dishonest people the opportunity to take them, and put the community at risk.
‘‘The worst thing is to have firearms that don’t have serial numbers.’’
In the age of social media and the internet, thieves were more mobile now, and able to shift stolen items out of the district.
These were ending up in the hands of gangs, poachers and unlicensed people, she said.
People should take advantage of whatever technology they can get, including lighting, security cameras and alerts to their mobiles, to keep themselves safe, she said.
However, she stressed that technology was just a tool to prevent and solve crime, and did not replace police presence in the community.
She will also be reinforcing the messages and strategies of other programmes, including the anti-family violence It’s Not OK campaign, in south Otago.