“Police data shows that during the week immediately after Cyclone Gabrielle hit, Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti areas experienced a brief spike in crime but levels returned to normal by the following week,” Park said.
Police deployed an extra 145 staff to the district to support the initial response to the cyclone.
“It’s important to note that the extra contingent of police from outside the district helped enable a strong response to those who chose to take advantage of the devastation waged by the cyclone.”
The biggest spikes in crime in the week after the cyclone were for burglaries and public order incidents (including suspicious behaviour).
For burglaries, there were previously six a day on average in the district which rose to 13 per day on average between February 14-20.
Burglary figures then dropped back to normal levels in the weeks following.
For public order incidents, there were normally 27 reports a day which rose to an average of 53 a day between February 14-20.
Those incidents stayed relatively high for the following two weeks at around 48 per day before reducing.
Other crimes which saw a lesser spike in the week after the cyclone included family harm (about 39 incidents per day) and violence and threats (15 incidents per day).
Park said the police response in the days following the cyclone was largely focused on the unfolding emergency and helping people in life-threatening and flood situations.
“Daily 111 calls to police for assistance nearly doubled in the week immediately after the cyclone hit – from an average of 190-200 a day to 367.
“Many of these were for a range of flood-related support, not reporting criminal activity.”
She said as communications were restored, reports of crimes increased - particularly family harm, burglaries, and violence and threats.
For the two-week period from February 18 to March 3, there were an average of 21 arrests daily compared to the usual average of 16.
