Offender arrests reduce burglaries
Kia ora koutou. We had a good week last week in Taupo¯ after executing some search warrants on offenders who were committing burglaries in the local area. As a result of that we recovered a lot of stolen property and arrested three people independent of each other. Charges will be laid in relation to these burglaries.
As a result we’ve seen a decrease in burglaries in Taupo¯ at present but you still need to take your normal security precautions like locking up your house, keeping valuables out of sight in your vehicle and keeping an eye on what’s going on in your neighbourhood. We’re interested in hearing any reports of people loitering around on push bikes without helmets, young fellas in groups — anything out of the ordinary in your area. If you do see something suspicious or out of place, call Police straight away on 111 and we’ll come and check it out.
We’re currently doing extra patrolling in the Hilltop and Nukuhau areas because those are the hot spots at the moment for burglaries and thefts from cars and we are sitting at about five to six burglaries per week in Taupo¯.
Our focus is on trying to keep those numbers down, and the best way at the moment is keeping an eye on people who have warrants out for their arrest. At present we have 14 local people with active warrants to arrest and next week we are going to start knocking on doors of friends, associates and work colleagues to look for these people. If they would rather come to the Police Station and sort those warrants out with us instead, that would be great. Arrest warrants can be for a non-appearance at court and sometimes it’s a genuine mistake but nine times out of 10 they are avoiding us and families are hiding them so we need to resolve those, especially with Christmas coming.
If they don’t deal with their outstanding warrant and we do wind up arresting the person, they’re held in custody until the next court date. If you want to avoid a stint in the cells, we suggest you come in and sort it out as soon as possible. The courts shut down over Christmas and if you’re locked up over that time by police, you’ll be spending the festive season in the slammer until the courts reopen.
We’ve had a few people tell us about a noticeable increase in gangs coming into town on the weekends recently. We’re aware that these people are riding their bikes through Taupo¯ and using it as a place to stop. They are keeping to themselves but because they are coming through in big groups of 20 to 50 it can be intimidating. However while they are gang members, there is no risk to the public and we do monitor them when they come through. Having said that, people need to ring us to let us know if they see something that worries them, rather than commenting on social media or emailing us afterwards. If you see something you’re concerned about, call us at the time and we will check it out.
Ma¯ te wa¯, Phil.