“I want to acknowledge the feelings of distress and concern from some residents in Eastern District, and reassure them that we are maintaining our additional staff numbers in the district while we work through the recovery phase,” Coster said.
“We have heard residents’ concerns around crime and our officers are working hard every day carrying out reassurance patrols and engaging with communities.”
“The mobile bases further boost the additional resources already available in the district, which include specialist search groups, intelligence officers, investigators, dog handlers, iwi liaison officers, frontline staff and the Eagle helicopter.”
This comes after last night’s fiery meeting held at Crab Farm Winery, in Bay View, Napier, where residents said they were prepared to arm themselves to defend their property during a post-Cyclone Gabrielle crime spree.
“Our community needs to get factual because there’s been lots of rumours. I’m sick of people saying that it’s not really that bad when we know it is,” said organiser and Bay View resident Louise Parsons.
“You’ve got people wanting to bear arms, it’s not about bearing arms - it’s just about wanting to be safe.”
Some locals also mentioned scheduling rostered shifts for community policing. Some described their concerns for the safety of their families and how they had thought of leaving.
“I feel less safe in Napier than I did in London,” said a recent ex-pat who had moved to Hawke’s Bay with his family.
Another resident commented that when he went to buy ammunition for hunting at his local store; “they had virtually sold out of shotguns”.
Meanwhile, Coster has also walked back earlier comments regarding the incident where road workers had a gun pointed at them in Hawke’s Bay.
“The incident in question was reported to police at the time and was attended. However, it was not recorded in police systems in the usual way, which resulted in difficulty locating information about it when asked by media,” Coster said
“The incident was referenced in an intelligence report that was shared with staff at Police National Headquarters on 18 February.
”However, this information was unfortunately missed at the time a response was prepared for the Minister’s office.”
A few days after Cyclone Gabrielle hit just over two weeks ago, flood traffic workers manning road closures in Hawke’s Bay reported abuse from members of the public trying to get into flood-affected areas.
In one incident, a sawn-off shotgun and a pistol were aimed at two individuals establishing temporary traffic management.
When asked about how terrified the workers were, an East Coast traffic official said: “Honestly, for us — it was a very, very dangerous moment and that crew just had to up and leave”.
Local traffic management supervisor Liam Harvey also told Newstalk ZB that the incident was later reported to the police and that authorities showed up to interview those involved.
Harvey also confirmed that those reports were first-hand accounts made to police.
Coster also apologised to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who was questioned about statements from workers having firearms pulled on them.
Hipkins replied: “I regret my intel at the time was incorrect.”
