Petition to keep police Eagle helicopter in Hawke’s Bay started

NZ Police's Eagle helicopter.

By Soumya Bhamidipati for RNZ

Hundreds of Napier residents are calling for the police Eagle helicopter to stay in Hawke’s Bay beyond the disaster response.

The helicopter was deployed in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle to reassure residents following reports of looting and opportunistic crime.

But Napier resident Jules Cunningham said locals had been worried about crime long before the storm, since the police force was centralised to Hastings about a decade ago.

“We’ve only in the last couple of years had our own satellite station set up here in Napier, but it has no cells, it’s not accessible to the public in the evening or nighttime,” she said.

“Police spend a lot of their time commuting back and forth with criminals in the area, which means it’s more time they can’t spend on the ground.”

A petition calling for police to continue aerial monitoring over Hawke’s Bay has gained over 800 signatures since Cunningham set it up on Sunday afternoon.

She said that was because locals had already noticed a reduction in crime in the last few weeks.

“Since Eagle has been here, in our immediate neighbourhood area ... teens and people roaming the streets in the middle of the night have virtually gone... It’s a marked difference, it’s a huge difference.”

Cunningham said since the Eagle had been at work in the area, she had not heard of any vehicle break-ins.

While the choppers did not come cheaply, Cunningham said there was no price that could be put on the cost of even one injured person ending up in hospital, and the money should come from the police budget.

“They have to come over here to respond to crime. If they apprehend anyone, they then have to take them back to Hastings - so, you’re looking at a loss of over an hour for that officer in just commuting. That has a dollar amount all on its own.”

Last week, Cunningham emailed the police commissioner through the organisation’s website, asking for the helicopter to be retained in Hawke’s Bay.

“I wanted to actually make my voice heard; that we’re in support of it,” she said.

“Just to start making some noise about it, because everybody’s saying it, and [the petition] is putting all [those voices] in one place.”

- RNZ