Easy targets but no easy solutions

Long before the tragic death of convenience store worker Janak Patel in Auckland on Wednesday, the humble corner dairy was becoming recognised as a high-risk business. Along with the threat of crime, shops are struggling with the phasing out of tobacco products and dairy owners have been keen to sell up. Trade Me data last month showed a 17% increase in dairies and convenience stores for sale, and 181 businesses were listed on Thursday. More than half were in Auckland.

There was a horrible sense of inevitability about the events of Wednesday night and not just among those who run dairies, vape shops, liquor stores and other apparently easy targets for opportunistic crime. Anyone following the almost daily stories of ramraid attacks is conscious of a new and unsettling copycat crime wave that seems motivated by a range of factors, including social media status, along with more traditional economic and social drivers.

While it is important that Patel’s death is not exploited for political gain, the event marks a clear turning point in a worsening crime narrative and it is an unfortunate coincidence that he died in the prime minister’s Mt Albert electorate, where convenience stores and other outlets have been repeatedly targeted.

But it seems unfair to criticise Jacinda Ardern for being in the Chatham Islands yesterday, rather than paying her respects at Rose Cottage Superette. She has indicated she might visit this weekend.

There have been some understandably emotive responses from those who speak for a fearful community. Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal has said the Government has blood on its hands, and he will plan a nationwide protest after Patel’s funeral.

Yet blame is not specific to any one government. Kaushal also led a protest in South Auckland in 2017, urging that something be done about dairy and liquor store robberies. That was under a National government.

But is there more the Government can do, or should have done? A government initiative in 2017 funded fog cannons for at-risk businesses and 1000 were installed. A retail crime prevention fund was allocated $6 million for more such measures this year, following the rise of ramraids.

Ramraids have been the dominant crime story of 2022. Police said in October they had arrested 347 youths and laid more than 2000 charges related to ramraid and smash and grab offending in Auckland and Waikato during the previous five months.

Youth crime has spiked in Christchurch too. Police Minister Chris Hipkins said there had been 215 ramraids nationally in the same period. Most are committed by youths under 17. Ramraids have also become a focus of the Hamilton West by-election.

But while visually dramatic, they are merely about property damage, unlike armed robberies, when lives can be risked.

The question that must be answered is why Rose Cottage Superette was declined security measures by police despite several previous incidents and at least two approaches from the owners. Sandringham Neighbourhood support co-ordinator John McCaffery told RNZ police considered the superette to not be a priority.

Patel’s death came a week after National proposed boot camps for young offenders. The proposal was widely criticised. Even the last government’s science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, said in 2018 they had been shown to increase crime. He warned that young offenders find the thrill of violent offending, and the social rewards it brings, more important than concerns about being caught or facing social disapproval.

We have to continue with workable responses rather than moral panic. Tough-guy talk from the Leader of the Opposition about wraparound services being ‘‘kumbaya’’ and ‘‘mush’’ is not helpful either.

Nor do we wish to see convenience store workers arming themselves. The prevention measures already outlined and funded remain the best solution. We just have to be sure they reach everyone who needs them.

The question . . . is why Rose Cottage Superette was declined security measures by police.