Hunting van after child approached

Te¯ na¯ koutou. This week, I want to talk to you about stolen vehicles and suspicious vehicles. We have had a steady volume of vehicles stolen over the past few months and quite a few broken into.

I can assure you there has been plenty of mahi done by our various teams, both here in Taupo¯ and with our counterparts in other towns to hold those responsible to account and we are making some good progress with these investigations.

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure, and I would encourage everyone to minimise the risk of such thefts by locking vehicles, parking off the street where possible and not leaving valuables and devices in vehicles.

It’s stating the obvious, but we often see a combination of these factors when attending incidents.

Our Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) is investigating a concerning incident where a child was approached by a vehicle driven by people unknown to them in Wairakei Village last Sunday.

If you have any information about this incident please contact our CIB and ask for Constable Tihema Ross.

The vehicle involved was a white van and we are following positive lines of enquiry to identify it.

It’s a timely reminder that we must always think about what supervision our children have and whether they can communicate in an emergency.

Having a conversation with our children before they venture out is important. It could be as simple as asking them, “If this happens, what would you do?”

Have them think about the possible options and resources around them, friends, phones, safe public spaces such as shops and, of course, check that they know the emergency number 111.

Would your child be able to describe what has happened and their location if they did have to call 111? We always hope for the best but planning for the worst is something we all need to do.

Specifically, regarding an incident with a stranger, even discussing a verbal response to someone offering them a ride could be helpful. Children are often polite and responsive to adults, so giving them a prepared response such as “No thank you, Mum is on her way now” could make a difference.

From years of interviewing and investigating those who offend against children, I know that you cannot judge a book by a cover. I also know there is a misconceived generalisation about the supposed look of someone who might approach a child in public.

My advice is to talk to your children about what behaviour they should expect from adults in public and what is not appropriate behaviour. Encourage them to make assessments on behaviour and less on who looks okay, or doesn’t.

Stay safe, Andy.