PM offers fog cannon funding
New figures show Waikato leads the country in the number of ramraids, with 101 this year, as the Government unveils new efforts to help beleaguered shopkeepers.
The Government will pay $4000 to every small shop and dairy wanting to install fog cannons, following the death of worker Janak Patel.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a series of new funding options for retailers yesterday.
A new $4 million Government fund will help the Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Hamilton councils to prevent local crime. The existing crime prevention fund would be expanded for dairies that had been the victim of an aggravated robbery.
The prime minister had promised action following the killing of Patel, who was stabbed to death in Auckland while working at a dairy in Sandringham.
The prime minister attended his funeral on Sunday night, and stayed in Auckland as protesters gathered outside Labour offices across the country, calling for a crackdown on shoplifting and ramraids, as well as better protections for retail staff.
Auckland city was second for ramraid statistics, with 95 for the year. Numbers per month across the country peaked at 75 before dropping to 13 this month.
Small shops and dairies will get $4000 each to go towards installing a fog cannon.
Ardern said the Government was putting aside $10m initially for the scheme, but it would be driven by demand.
‘‘If you feel vulnerable, we want you to be able to access support,’’ Ardern said.
Police Minister Chris Hipkins said despite global supply chain issues, police had ordered 455 fog cannons to arrive before
Christmas.
‘‘More challenging will be the time it takes to install them,’’ he said.
‘‘The 1000 fog cannons that are already installed took four years, and despite police doubling the number of local contractors that will do the work of six, it’s expected it will take till the second quarter of next year for the number of installations to start to ramp up,’’ he said.
When asked if there was any consideration to allow dairy workers to use pepper spray, which is a restricted weapon in New Zealand, Hipkins said it could put them at even more risk.
‘‘[There is] very clear evidence . . . where shop owners are put into a position where they have to defend themselves more, where they are more actively engaged with potential offenders, they’re actually putting themselves and potentially other customers at greater risk.
‘‘One of the reasons fog cannons are very effective is that they’re very safe for the person who is deploying them, they do de-escalate the risk almost immediately and the evidence of reoffending after a fog cannon has been deployed is very low,’’ he said.
‘‘So they work.’’
The Government will match on a dollar-for-dollar basis what councils pay for local crime prevention measures.
As dairy workers closed their stores in protest yesterday, many spoke about fears for themselves, their staff and families. Ardern has repeatedly defended the Government position on crime. While Ardern and Hipkins have acknowledged a spike in youth crime and ‘‘ramraiding’’, they had insisted that the issue was waning.