NZ citizens are taking crime fighting into their own hands
Emigrating to New Zealand because you think it has a low crime rate and a great lifestyle? Fancy living in the Nelson area? Warning, you may want to look elsewhere after reading this article.
We’ve known for some years now that police in New Zealand restrict the number of crime reports they release to the media. For example, this…
July 2010 GISBORNE police have decided to restrict the information on crime they provide to media in a move to “make the community feel safer”.
Up until now, The Gisborne Herald has been given detailed reports of crimes attended by police, including burglaries, domestic violence and the arrests that make up our daily “Police briefs” But earlier this week area commander Inspector Sam Aberahama said comprehensive information would no longer be provided. He saw no benefit in “reporting all and sundry…” source Gisborne Herald.
And we also know that “creative accounting” is pushing down official crime reported crime rates and the “system is played to improve crime stats. (link).
The problem is that now the NZ public are generally unaware of the crime going on around them unless it involves them directly.
A result of feeling safer is that people are more likely to fall victim to crime because they don’t protect themselves: ignorance is not bliss. .e.g. people are burgled because they think its safe to leave their doors unlocked, women are attacked because they think its safe to walk alone at night, tourists leave valuables in cars, etc.
Under reporting also means communities don’t become involved with helping police investigate crimes, criminals continue their activities unabated under a shadow of secrecy, the police become more stretched and the government keeps cutting back on their funding.
At last, the owner of a Nelson based Facebook page is putting paid to all that. She’s using a scanner to listen in to police broadcasts then informing her community about crimes, asking people to go to the police with information, helping to solve crimes and making people proactive about their own security. You can find the page here Nelson Snippets
It is also a vignette of small town life in Nelson, New Zealand. It shows how frequent crime is and how much of it is never reported because it is so ubiquitous .
Jan 9: Wow is there a full moon tonight. Aggro all over town. Toi toi, domestic, Parkers road attacking taxi drivers. WashBourne drive youths fighting on the street with rocks, fight on main road stoke. And that doesn’t count the guys in reef ton who rolled their car and ran away or the young men at the rugby grounds at Spring Creek “not doing nuthin” but one has got a bone sticking out of his leg. Youse are all drunk. GO HOME.
Nelson Snippets includes multiple pictures of stolen and burned-out cars (some of them stolen for spare parts) reports of break ins and thefts, road crashes, assaults etc.
Here’s some of the reports since the end of 2014.
June 9: Stolen from Tahunanui Drive around 8pm tonight. 2004 White Toyota Altenza Rego FPK69 Last seen heading into the city. Half a tank of gas Driver Maori or polynesian wearing blue hoodie Eye out everyone
Jun 7: about 6.30pm today my sister had 2 bags stolen from her car. She was just dropping something off to my grandma and they were taken. Happened at the retirement village off pole stead rd in stoke which has the bike track running through it. She has reported to police but if anyone’s biking the track tomorrow could you please keep and eye out for anything just incase the bags were dumped. The bags contained a few sentimental things that we would really like to get back, Thanks. One was a big black handbag. It had reading glasses, supplements and jewellery. Also a wallet and makeup. Please message me if you find anything. Cheers.
June 6: (picture of wrecked car) This is what is left of the Triton that was taken from Brightwater and found on a track on the Spooners today. It was not part of the joyrider’s stealing spree but seems to have been stolen especially for the parts. The thief was connected to a blue MU that was seen in the area just prior to the theft and anyone knowing anything about this vehicle could get in touch.
June 5: Another stolen vehicle. White holden rodeo ute with a red stripe round it. ZU6701 stolen from South Street over night.
June 4: A Toyota was stolen last night from Cable Bay Rd and was dumped behind the Hira store along with another vehicle stolen the previous night from Richmond, when spotted by the police. 5 thieves have led led our constabulary on a merry chase all night. I listened up to 2am and picked up again at 8. Please people lock your cars. The Toyota had the keys in it. There were about 5 vehicles pinched the night before from Richmond vicinity and at least one recovered from takaka. Get creative. Alarms. Noisy booby traps. These people have to be stopped.
June 3: Please share. STOLEN from our yard in brightwater last night. 2004 Mitsubishi Triton DC ute reg number BYF210
May 29: (Picture of wrecked car in a field) Anyone know anything about this? It is up Marsden valley.
May 21: (picture of burned out car) found this in mahana has to ov been stolen! anyone knws whos it is its a turbo altezza
May 16: Theft from a car on Grove Street.
May 7: Stolen car set on fire.
May 5: Dont park your car in tahuna sme1 has stabed at least 10 tyres on cars on muratai st tahuna school area all done this morning i run state roadside and have changed a few today might b worth putting a post up?
April 22: Stolen caravan Avondale Harrier rego L179Q. Believed to be towed away by two men in a Maroon 4×4 Stolen today (Pic similar but not the exact one)
April 17: Must be a quiet day in Nelson today. A fight on the street in Vanguard St has managed to attract 5 police cars. If you have seen the melee don’t worry too much. Don’t think anyone is in too much trouble just was close to town and plenty of staff around to attend.
April 3: mazda cosmo was stolen from behind gourdie automotive/challenge garage sometime between 5pm and 8pm last night along with a flatscreen tv and two xbox 360s
March 9: Three people robbed Rattle n Hum of their whole till tonight and did a runner. Ditched the till at the park by the Riverside Pool. Police are looking to catch up with them for a chat about that.
March 7: Cops were just chasing a speeder up the Washington Hill til it turned out to be someone they were looking for. He crashed his car and has done a runner. The big rush now is them trying to find him.
March 6: Japanese traveller has his bag packs stolen.
March 6: Stolen laptop, award for its recovery.
Feb 21: Seems Hondas do need gravel to do burn outs. They will lose their cars for doing it at saxtons tonight if they don’t move it out of there right now. Oops. Too late. Snapped.
Feb 14: Stolen car. ZA3432. 93 grey GTS Skyline. Green stickered. Stolen overnight from Golf road.
Feb 9: STOLEN from the Brook overnight – between 3-4am. Red 95 Subaru Impreza TH1065. Eyes out everyone.
Jan 17: Stolen vehicle alert. Blue 2005 XR6 ford falcon ute. Reg DBM957 stolen from aniseed valley some time after 7pm tonight.
Jan 16: Cars have been damaged overnight at Ford on Haven Road and Mazda across the road on the corner of Vickerman St. Cameras have picked up the offenders and they are being spoken to now.
Jan 9: A car on fire under the Appleby Bridge. The scrub is on fire too. Will likely turn out to be another car stolen and ditched.
Jan 6: Man arrested following Moteuka shooting.
Jan 3: Please be safe if you are out in town tonight as there is a male out and about trying to force females in to dark places. Last known location was by countdown/warehouse carpark. Description 5 ft 8 slim build and wearing blue jeans. He has tried to drag a female into Anzac park.
Dec 31:Help get my car back, 4age turbo ke30 stolen last night, rego is FGL655 please help ge ut back!!! Stolen from Rangiora overnight.
In an interview with the Nelson Mail the page’s owner says
“she’s solved the case of the white Toyota Altezza that was stolen from a petrol station on Monday night. She broke the news on Facebook an hour after it happened. “We know who did it,” she says. She loads up a photo of a guy and says, “Recognise the blue hoodie?” It looks similar to the one the car thief was wearing when he was caught on CCTV camera. “He’s just got out of prison, too, for car conversion.” She’s sure the guy in the photo is the guy who stole the car and can’t understand why police haven’t arrested him (read the news report about the theft).
Her first post, on August 20, 2013, was about a burglar being caught on a roof. The page expanded and she started sharing funny and peculiar incidents, like the guy who was escorted from a women’s clothing store by police after trying on dresses and making staff uncomfortable, or the “old guy” on a mobility scooter who was driving along the road on Whakatu Drive…subscribe to the page here
Sounds like the overstretched and underfunded police could do with all the help they can get.
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E2NZ.org 
I wouldn’t recommend living in Tuakau either. It wasn’t particularly violent, but I still didn’t feel too safe walking the streets there. I worked on the main street for a while which was fine, but everyday, a continuous stream of thugs would be wandering the streets, taking over the parks and shouting. There are some parts where no one goes to work, and I tell you, the poison that is Home Direct must be making a killing out there. Everyday I saw multiple trucks zipping about, and you could look down almost any street and see one parked. Those companies should be outlawed.
There’s also a meth problem, Maori dog owners who don’t give a shit if their pit bulls are wandering the streets, and after every weekend something was destroyed on the main street from when the drunks were out, like store windows or plants. This Indian place had to install shutters to protect their windows which would be broken as soon as they were replaced. The local Maoris are shoplifters. What a dump.
Sad because because it is a nice place near the countryside, but I wouldn’t want to go back their as long as the above continues.
Police have been told to stop issuing fines to unlicensed drivers, but only if they’re Maori. I assume the judgement is based solely on their skin colour? Not only is this policy openly racist but unlicensed drivers are allowed to remain on the road for a further two months before a fine is issued.
Meanwhile resolution rates for burglary, assault and sexual assault and are at an all time low because because of direct cuts in police funding. I guess it makes sense to stop charging people with offences?
BNet,
Apparently the NZ police have never heard of the squalid Rotherham scandal in the UK where members of Muslim gangs who forced under-aged girls into prostitution were not prosecuted, in the interests of community cohesion’. The local police and council officers were afraid of being labelled as ‘racists’ so they adopted a double standard and did absolutely nothing for years.
The NZ policy seems totally insane, and gutless.
Too few cops on street: Crime victim
‘Police figures released to the Labour Party under the Official Information Act this week showed the number of general-duties constables in the Wellington police district, which included Wairarapa, had dropped more than 32 per cent in six years.
Nationally, there was an almost 18 per cent decline.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11462105
Cops cut in Northland.
‘Frontline police numbers in Northland have dropped by 19 per cent over six years, causing one MP to question the funding put into the thin blue line.
Northland had 140 general duties constables in July 2009, but statistics released by Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour Party police spokesman Kelvin Davis showed that over six years this number had gradually dropped to 114 in April 2015 – a 19.29 per cent decrease’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11460271
Thats the Kiwi way-pretend it isn’t happening and deny it until something terrible happens then watch them all blame each other and nothing is resolved and no one is accountable. Repeat process. She’l be right mate. Good as gold.