LAW & ORDER

Call it old-fashioned policing. We're getting more local bobbies on the street and citizens are helping patrol their neighbourhoods, too. On the front line of one Auckland suburb Alice Hudson talks to the community constable and Helen Laurent meets the community patrol leader
He was in the Army 11 years. Went to Bosnia in 1995. Has been to East Timor, not once but twice. Now, Lance Dawson is ... the peacekeeper for Blockhouse Bay. And Lynfield, and New Windsor.
He's a community constable. The one you turn to when your neighbour's annoying you, or you've lost your wallet. The guy who'll attend your community meeting; who can make a stand with local officials to get changes made in your neighbourhood.
He's also the policeman who could not be there for you, to the same level at least, without relying heavily on volunteers like Marjorie, who's run the front desk of the small Blockhouse Bay office for 14 years now.
"Without volunteers, the office would have to be closed if I was out," says Lance, matter-of-factly.
He's not the sort of cop who races around with sirens blaring - at least, not very often. A typical day is a far cry from when he was a regular cop, an "emergency response" officer based in Avondale.
Back then, he and a partner would spend shifts glued to the radio, responding to jobs, or incidents, as prioritised by communications staff.
His job now is to get out and problem-solve within the community. "We want to look at the bigger picture," he says of community cops.
A Blockhouse Bay example: instead of regular police being called to the beach 'time and time again' to deal with troublemakers parked up in cars, Lance is working towards a more permanent solution.
He's talked to residents and been to the community board, which is considering options such as restricting vehicle access to the local crime hot spot.
Lance took up his post at Christmas after three years as a regular cop. Before he came on the beat, Blockhouse Bay (and New Windsor and Lynfield) went without a community copper for several months.
He says locals really missed having a community constable, someone dedicated to the area, who knew "the trouble spots, and the trouble people".
"Neighbourhood Support took a direct hit from that," he says.
He was given a list of 150 local groups. When he sent letters to introduce himself, only 30 replied. "There was a massive loss of contact."
Lance is focused on renewing that contact, and helping residents help the police get on with their job - like supporting the recent establishment of a community patrol. He's a regular at seven schools where he helps staff deal with "weekend problems, truants, bad boys".
He works alone and mainly deals with incidents or issues the public wouldn't consider emergencies. Lance helps other police if there's an incident in his area and wears a stab-resistant vest.
"You never know who might come in angry."
People pop into his office during the day, to talk about neighbourhood disputes, traffic or street-related problems, graffiti and vandalism.
A local bugbear: vehicles running a stop sign just outside his office. He tells me he's sat out there for an hour a morning for two days. "Thirteen offences. You have a bit more time to get to the heart of the problem."
He's got no computer access at his office, by the way. No email, no way of logging on to the police computer system. Which means Lance has to accumulate his paperwork at the end of the day, then head to the Avondale station to use their machines. That's normal for community cops, says Lance, "unless you are lucky enough to be stationed at a main station".
"It's refreshing," he says of his role. "Everyone you come into contact with still needs your help. It's just rather than going to a serious assault, you are going to a neighbourly dispute. But these things can escalate if they are not dealt with the right way first time."
Coming to a suburb near you
There's a problem in the middle of the night. You call the police. Constables X and Y come around. But they won't be on duty next morning, when you call to ask questions. Next week, the problem happens again. Constables A and B attend, with no idea what happened last week.
Community policing aims to change that, "to get more to the root of the problem," says Lance Dawson.
And there could be more officers like him coming to a suburb near you. The Government has promised 120 more community constables nationally in the next year, stationed wherever senior police deem they are most needed.
Superintendent Bill Searle is in charge of a new National Community Policing Group, which began work in April.
He says the new community cops will be appointed from July 1. He doesn't yet know how many will be assigned to Auckland, or where - district commanders are deciding that - but he says "the aim is to identify communities where we can make the most difference".
He says community constables serve as important links between the massive police organisation and communities they serve.
The police are also looking at ways to "refresh and develop" community policing. One of those is to make officers more visible, accessible, reliable and familiar to the public.
That could include cops riding buses on troublesome routes or following the lead of the Rotorua community constable who patrols parks by pushbike every morning, catching truants.
"The public like to see officers walking the beat," says Searle.
PAINTING THE TOWN ... NOT
Len Day had a gutsful of going to work on Monday mornings. For 12 years, his first job of the week was to paint over the tags that decorated his Harveys Real Estate office in Blockhouse Bay.
It wasn't funny. Especially the bill for hundreds of dollars after every weekend attack.
It's not the sort of thing that you can dial 111 for. So Len didn't: he enlisted the help of the local Community Patrol.
The volunteers began regular stake-outs around the building on Blockhouse Bay's main shopping street. It seems to have worked.
"We've been on that spot for 12 years and tagging has always been an issue," Mr Day says.
"It used to happen every week. But since the patrol started three weeks ago, it has only happened once. It's early days but the signs are good."
Formed earlier this year, the Blockhouse Bay Community Patrol is the latest addition to this relatively new phenomenon. Fourteen have been set up across Greater Auckland since the Community Patrols of New Zealand network began in 2001.
Local organiser Garry Miller says the suburb has no more problems than any other. What it does have is a community keen to tackle crime.
"After a rash of break-ins last year, the Blockhouse Bay Mainstreet Association had a series of meetings with police and the community in November. From that we advertised for volunteers and got 25."
A former policeman, Mr Miller describes a community patrol as "the eyes and ears of police. We steer away from any confrontation, but we do observe and make our presence known".
Liaison with police is important. Patrols log-in at the start of the night, use police scanner channels and statistics, and are in constant communication.
Typically, Garry and another volunteer will spend a patrol night driving around Blockhouse Bay, investigating parked cars, speaking to people acting suspiciously, checking particular buildings and areas and walking through school grounds.
"It's hard to gauge how effective we are as it's hard to tell how many events we have prevented, but we believe we are making a difference. We get a good reaction from the community - plenty of people coming up to us and saying, "Keep up the good work."
Community Patrols' national chairman, Ian Pilbrow, says his organisation is part of the tool kit used by police. It is the governing body for around 100 patrols and 5000 members nationwide.
The scheme is increasing steadily and he is fielding inquiries from Alaska, other American states and from Australia.
"Community patrols are growing, there is no two ways about it. People are concerned with the level of crime in New Zealand. Police are becoming more community focused and will work with anyone who has a cunning scheme to fight crime."
www.communitypatrols.co.nz. Greater Auckland groups in Blockhouse Bay, Botany, Devonport, Flat Bush, Howick-Pakuranga, Manurewa, Mt Eden, Orewa, Papakura, Papatoetoe, Pohutukawa Coast, Pukekohe, Tuakau and Waiuku.