Call for police to work with wha¯nau to keep Young people away from crime
or “worse, die” if they crashed a stolen vehicle.
“Unfortunately, we also have social media to contend with, and some young people like to brag about what they have done which can lead to copycat offending.
“The last thing we want to be doing is knocking on the door of a parent of another young person who has stolen a vehicle for whatever reason, lost control and crashed it.”
Gillbanks urged owners to always secure their vehicles.
“The community must be part of the solution by taking added preventative measures to make their cars far less attractive targets.
“We also need members of the public to truly be our eyes and ears so that we can intervene much earlier and prevent more victims from being targeted.”
He said the young offenders came from different backgrounds and an arrest was the first step in a long journey of dealing with them.
“That journey also includes police working closely with the young person’s wha¯nau and other agencies to put in place control measures and preventative actions. “We can’t just lock them up and throw away the key. There is a tremendous amount of work coming up with the right measures to help change a young person’s life course and keep them safe. And it’s not always an easy fix.”
Crime prevention was everyone’s responsibility, he said.
“Even if we had 1000 more police we would still need the community’s help to be our eyes and ears on the ground.
“I urge anyone seeing something suspicious including someone too young to be behind the wheel, two or three vehicles travelling in convoy, driving dangerously or erratically to call *555 immediately.”
Waipuna Hospice’s Mount Maunganui charity shop was hit by
thieves who stole thousands of dollars of stock and damaged the store overnight on March 19.
Waipuna Hospice chief executive Richard Thurlow said no arrests had been made, which was “very frustrating”, but the offenders captured on CCTV wore dark, hooded clothing.
He said targeting a charity shop that used profits to support terminal cancer patients was beyond low.
“As a charity, we’re already operating on a tight budget and, like many other charities, we are fundraising with one hand tied behind our backs. This feels like a kick in the guts.”
Thurlow urged anyone with information to call the police.
“We cannot do what we do without our shop income. I feel sad that people don’t want to get involved in reporting these crimes and help keep our community safe.
“Hopefully, someone will have seen the error of their ways and they won’t do it again.”
Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support manager Bruce Banks said he echoed Gillbanks’ pleas.
Banks said most districts in the country were experiencing the same issues and this was a “community problem”.
“Any suggestion that the police are not doing enough to prevent these crimes is so far from the truth.”
Banks said this sort of rhetoric being posted on social media is the catalyst to “inflame” the problem not prevent it.
“If you see something please do something. If people react better, the police will have a far better chance of catching offenders and deterring crime.
“Police need intel from the community, they cannot do it alone.
“Crime prevention is everybody’s problem and we all need to be part of the solution.”
Anyone with information about stolen vehicles or goods should call the police at 105 or phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.