Secure feel to Ardern’s neighbourhood
A smash-and-grab thief was on the loose in the Auckland suburb of Pt Chevalier.
That was before the election, when homeowner Jacinda Ardern was still an MP.
‘‘Our car got broken into,’’ recalled a neighbour. ‘‘Windows were getting smashed – Clarke Gayford’s car window got smashed, too.’’
Then Ardern became Prime Minister, and ‘‘it never happened again’’.
Ardern’s street is now probably the most secure in the country, kept under 24-hour surveillance by Diplomatic Protection Service (DPS) agents.
When Ardern is home during daylight hours, neighbours describe up to four agents guarding her modest two-bedroom home from the street. Two of them sit in an unmarked SUV with the engine running, while another two sit in separate unmarked cars.
At night the shift changes, with those vehicles replaced by up to two police patrol cars.
‘‘They’re not that chatty but one of them has said to me, ‘your house is safe’,’’ Ardern’s neighbour said.
‘‘Their sole focus is obviously Jacinda’s house, but you do feel fairly safe with them around. It’s quite hard-case watching her go for a walk. You’ve got two guys with her on foot and then the SUV follows her as well.’’
He said the security detail was only there when Ardern was home. He was glad to make the most of the free parking spaces while the Prime Minister was at Waitangi for the weekend.
But despite the parking issue, the local consensus was that the DPS agents were a reassuring presence.
‘‘I’ve become quite friendly with some of them. I don’t have to lock the door,’’ said a neighbouring woman. ‘‘One night my husband came home late from work. He pulled into the driveway – he drives a dunga car – and he had to answer some questions by torchlight. Who was he, and where did he live?’’
John Key’s DPS agents holed up in a campervan in the driveway of his Parnell mansion, before they moved into a pool house on the property. Helen Clark’s agents rented a house beside her Mt Eden villa.
But there haven’t been any offers to buy up Ardern’s neighbouring properties – or at least, not yet.
Security analyst Paul Buchanan said the level of diplomatic protection would have followed a threat assessment.
It was early days in Ardern’s administration, so for the time being, agents would be rotated in and out of the neighbourhood.
‘‘Should they get any indication that a more serious threat is materialising – and that tends to happen during the course of a Prime Minister’s career – well, at that point the defensive perimeter around the PM has to be strengthened. And maybe at that point they’ll think about renting a place.’’
The DPS also had to consider the attitude of the neighbours before buying or renting any property.
‘‘Most people would welcome a police presence in their neighbourhood, but some might not.’’
For now, residents just seem happy their cars are safe at night.