By Laura Smith for Local Democracy Reporting
A burnt out car in Fordlands, a western suburb of Rotorua. Photo: LDR / Ben Fraser
Questions have been raised about whether an increased police and guardian presence in Rotorua's inner city has pushed problems elsewhere.
Rotorua Lakes Council's community and district development committee met on Wednesday and received an update on the community safety strategy.
The council's community wellbeing deputy chief executive Anaru Pewhairangi and Rotorua area prevention manager inspector Phil Gillbanks jointly presented an update on what had been achieved over the summer and reiterated longer-term goals like reducing crime and antisocial behaviour.
Pewhairangi said the approach focused on the visibility of police alongside the council and ensuring better joint responsiveness to reassure the community.
A December Rotorua Safety and Wellbeing Survey found 50 percent of respondents wanted to see more police in the city.
Between 14 percent and 17 percent felt encouraged by the presence of Māori wardens.
Pewhairangi said having more police visibility was in progress, as was having more integrated deployment between police, Safe City guardians, regulatory staff and security partners.
Signage, such as for alcohol bans, had been improved, and more work was needed on public education and community safety awareness initiatives such as sharing crime prevention advice. A community constable had been reinstated last month.
Anaru Pewhairangi says council and the police are joining forces to try and reassure residents about safety in the CBD. Photo: ROTORUA DAILY POST/ Stephen Parker
Gillbanks said during the Christmas period there had been a gradual increase in reported crime "across the board". He attributed this to having more reporting avenues including online and through the 105 number.
Crime is down in central Rotorua but there is concern those in outer suburbs are experiencing rising rates. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith
Community feedback had been that it was good to see police patrolling the inner city.
Councillor Don Patterson said other areas of the community were struggling with crime; in Fordlands there were dirt bikes where they should not be, and he said a car had been set alight outside fellow councillor Conan O'Brien's home recently.
He said there had been gang intimidation and theft at the Te Ngae shopping centre.
"They feel like they have been left out on a limb."
He asked if the increased presence of patrollers in the city meant the problems had been pushed out to other areas.
In response, Gillbanks said there was a small element of that and he was aware more police visibility was needed in other urban centres, such as small shopping areas.
He was "well aware" of the bike issue and said police could not chase them but were doing what they could to hold the people responsible accountable.
An investigation was under way and search warrants would be conducted with the aim of seizing some bikes.
He said he was unaware of the issue at the Te Ngae shops and would look into it.
Councillor Lani Kereopa said she had been fielding concerns from the community about the impact of emergency and transitional housing and asked if resources were going into managing those impacts.
Gillbanks said there was, but there had been a "dramatic drop off" for calls for service since the housing accord was signed.
"We still get a few and we will always get that because people have high needs and complex issues ... but we are certainly not seeing the volume of calls for service to the same repeat locations we were seeing. It's probably since December we have seen that drop off."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air