Dannevirke police kept busy at lockdown level 3

Dannevirke police are keeping a close eye on the community during level 3 lockdown.

Dannevirke police have faced a busy time since the country moved into level 3 of Covid-19 lockdown last week.

Sergeant Gary McKernon said the move to level 3 certainly changed the town.

"The first day was busier than a lot of days and I think Dannevirke mirrored the rest of the country when it came to people wanting to get out for takeaway food."

He said the mindset of a lot of people was they could just return to normal but clearly that wasn't the case.

"We have had to visit several businesses to remind them of their responsibilities.

"We want to see businesses reopen but, just for now, there has to be some common sense and still some restrictions in the way they operate."

He said Civil Defence was aware of the businesses who didn't comply and could be following up.

McKernon said fortunately crime in Dannevirke hadn't dramatically increased.

Manawatū police issued a warning earlier this week for owners to secure their vehicles following some brazen thefts, but McKernon said this was occurring on the other side of the Saddle Rd and not a problem in Tararua.

On the downside, McKernon said incidents of family harm had increased again.

"There could be a variety of factors contributing to this such as the lockdown having been too long for some and alcohol being more freely available."

While Dannevirke police did not man any checkpoints over the weekend in this area, mobile patrols stopped plenty of vehicles, McKernon said.

"People on the whole have had good reason for moving around and most are remaining local."

This wasn't the case over Easter when a checkpoint set up on the main road into town stopped several drivers who admitted having driven to Palmerston North to buy groceries.

And over Anzac weekend police were called out to four parties with guests having travelled from Napier to Dannevirke for a birthday party.

One area of concern was people abusing some of the volunteers at New World.

"The main bone of contention seems to be that not everyone wants to take a trolley into the supermarket and don't listen when it's explained that the trolleys are used as a head count."

McKernon said he had not seen a formal report made regarding a specific incident, but he said police carried out regular patrols to ensure people acted appropriately.

"From our point of view the area is doing well, you have the majority of people who are doing the right thing and doing it well.

"However, individuals will let us down and we are targeting those people and businesses as the need arises."