Safety officers proving their worth on deterring student fights in Porirua

Porirua mayor Anita Baker says an initiative to stop students fighting at the city centre railway station is off to a good start.

Three safety officers, known as navigators, began patrolling Porirua station on Monday during peak hours.

Baker said while it might only be day two of the pilot, people were already feeling safer.

The pilot has three community safety officers patrolling the station from 7am-9am, and from 3.30pm-5.30pm for the next six months, funded by the Ministry of Social Development.

Baker hoped to secure more funding to keep the pilot going past the initial six months.

Several groups are involved in the project, including police, Partners Porirua and Piri'anga Alofa Pacific and Community Services.

The project came about after secondary schools wrote to the mayor and the council's chief executive about their concerns around fights breaking out at the station.

Baker said the fighting had affected several schools, and some of the fights had been between students from different schools.

Partners Porirua contract services manager John Lafaele said it was not just current students, but also students who have recently left school who were involved.

Many of the fights seemed to have been organised and planned online.

"We've been working really closely with the police, city council and other really key stakeholders to ensure that we have a community response to pushing back on that type of activity," he said.

Senior lead for Piri'anga Alofa Pacific and Community Services Caroline Mareko said the navigators had received a positive response from the community, and commuters were happy to see them on the platform.

Navigator Reuben Baker said while patrolling the station they had had people come up to them to thank them for keeping them safe.

Fellow navigator Bronsin Ikurere said so far they had had a quiet week at the station and he hoped their presence was acting as a deterrent.