So crime happens during the working week
If the police chiefs had a will to have the Upper Hutt Police Station properly manned and open on weekends and at night, then it would have happened by now.
We are instead being fed a load of flannel about plans to do so in the indefinite future.
The conclusion to be drawn is that this is a deliberate policy of running down resources in the Hutt Valley with a view to save money and also to test community reaction.
So how does the situation affect the public?
The police station is no longer a place of refuge for victims in an emergency. It is not a place where crime can be reported face-to-face with the police. It is no longer a point where police resources can be deployed - it takes an incident car at least 30 minutes to reach Upper Hutt from Wellington.
The absence of police presence in the community means that they are deprived of intelligence about what is going on in the community.
We have a meth epidemic and the growth of gangs in Upper Hutt yet the police presence is now light. Ultimately, this impacts on public safety and is unacceptable.
The police chiefs seem to be banking on the idea that criminal activity only occurs during the hours of the working week.
The police do a great job. It is their commanders who deploy inadequate resources that are at fault.
Our court was closed by stealth. I fear the same process is at work for the Upper Hutt Police Station.
What is particularly disturbing is that the Lower Hutt Police Station is similarly affected.
Reg Newell
Upper Hutt
EYESORE ON THE MOVE
Nice to see that sense has prevailed finally and The File, that ugly, rusty, eyesore, laughable, embarrassing piece of junk opposite the Westpac bank has been removed.
It should have never been there, or anywhere.
What a blatant waste of our ratepayers’ money.
Craig Lindsay
Totara Park
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