More daytime burglaries reported

Te¯na¯ koutou everyone.

Over the past seven days Taupo¯ Police have had a relatively steady week with 145 complaints recorded. We’ve received 13 burglary complaints in the last seven days. We normally see around six or seven burglaries. There were three daytime burglaries in the Nukuhau area, one where a window was smashed, a second where medication was taken and a third where a television was taken.

We’ve had a further two daytime burglaries at Tu¯wharetoa St addresses where a cell phone and tablet were taken in one and a watch in a second. In a daytime burglary on Taharepa Rd a shed was entered and a dirt bike taken. In a night burglary on Taharepa Rd a window was broken, but no entry gained. The other burglaries were Arthur Cres, Konini St, Parata Rd and Tamamutu St, daytime burglaries where the house has been entered and searched. We had a second night burglary on Ingle Ave where a house was entered and small items taken.

We will be deploying into these areas to prevent further offending. Taupo¯ Tactical Crime Squad will be reviewing these files, identify offenders and locate and arrest them.

Most were committed while owners have been away and all owners secured their property by locking the doors and in some instances setting the alarm. I still encourage everyone to lock premises, where possible install an alarm and set it even if you’re only going away for the day.

I am looking at installing security catches on my own windows and I would encourage you to do the same before summer. The temperatures will rise outside and also inside. We also need to keep our property secure

As a lot of these burglaries (10) were in daytime, we need your help. If you see anything out of place or anything suspicious please give us a call on 111 so that our teams can come, locate that suspicious person or vehicle and identify who they are.

It is a simple call such as this that will give us the break we’re looking for and possibly identify who is committing these offences in this area.

What is encouraging is to see that theft from motor vehicles and general theft has remained steady.

I am confident that if Police deploy staff into the right areas, we use our partners such as Taupo¯ Community Patrols, Taupo¯ Neighbourhood Support and you, the community, we can reduce these burglaries and also identify the offenders and have them held accountable for their actions.

If you have any information that can assist Police with their enquiries into these burglaries and/or an identification of an offender or group of offenders then please contact CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 to give us information about crime without revealing your identity.

Have a great week and stay safe out there as you enjoy the warmer weather.

Nga¯ mihi, Phil.