Don’t live in Palmerston North if you value your safety. Really, don’t.

A reminder today that violent crime continues unabated in most of New Zealand’s small communities, large towns and cities.

This is the real middle earth, more Orc than Hobbit. The Manawatu Standard‘s headline:

Father and son pulled from ute and attacked with baseball bats in Palmerston North

A man and his teenage son were the victims of a “sickening” attack after they were hauled from their car and beaten with baseball bats in central Palmerston North. Detective Sergeant Grayson Joines said the incident happened about 3.15pm on Saturday afternoon near the intersection of Main St and Princess St.

The man, 38, and his 13-year-old son were both injured, the boy left with a broken arm. The pair were in a red Holden utility (pick up truck) that was badly damaged…

Denman said many women told her they were particularly scared of using the steps by Boyd-Wilson Field, in Kelburn, where a man assaulted a woman late one night in February…” more here

Readers may remember that a few years ago all mentions of crime were removed from the Palmerston North Wikipedia page because it was putting-off oversea investors and professional people from moving to the area.

Unfortunately, spin and cover-up didn’t sort out a city’s crime problem, neither does not having sufficient cops on the beat, or not putting criminals behind bars.

A twitter follower tells us about their own experience

Read more articles about Palmerston North and its out-of-control crime problem here.

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