Safety lies at the heart of a strong and well-functioning community. To feel safe and secure in our own communities is a basic right for everyone. We believe that businesses should be able to operate and that shoppers should be able to shop in a safe and inviting environment. We also believe that people should be free to navigate their neighbourhoods without fear or nervousness about their surroundings.
We know this is important to our community too. We are also very aware of some upsetting incidents that have played out in our public places recently, and know that people are feeling less safe out and about than they used to.
We all have a part to play to improve safety and well-being, whether it be joining a local Neighbourhood Support group, reporting suspicious activity to Police, or regularly checking on an elderly neighbour.
Council's focus is to make sure our public places are safe. We do this in many ways, from the design and maintenance of our spaces and roading networks, the use of lighting, and cleaning up graffiti, through to generating vibrancy in our city. Every year we invest $350,000 into community safety initiatives.
Currently, our Napier Community Patrol is organised and run by volunteers who patrol Napier in an effort to prevent crime. There are six patrol cars and approximately 240 volunteers - one of the largest and most successfully run community patrols in New Zealand. Napier Community Patrol works with Police to provide an extra presence of eyes and ears out on the street.
Napier Safety Trust manages 16 web-based CCTV cameras on our behalf that are located in public places throughout Napier. They act as a deterrent as well as enabling crime detection and evidence for prosecutions. Last year we set aside $500,000 to replace and modernise Napier's CCTV network.
A recent survey has shown that there is good support for our CCTV network and community street patrols, but more can be done.
A new initiative that we are proposing to introduce is an ambassador programme for our central city. This is an approach that has worked well in other cities and we'd like to try it in Napier.
Ambassadors work with individuals to link them with services that may be able to help. At the same time, they maintain clear behavioural expectations and are equipped to deal with negative activity by liaising closely with Police and others.
We see the ambassador programme and CCTV working hand in hand to effectively respond to issues of community safety in our public places. What do you think of this approach? Do you have any other ideas about how we could better manage community safety?
Our community safety proposals are discussed in our Long Term Plan 2021-31 consultation. You can tell us what you think at sayitnapier.nz, or collect a consultation submission form from our Customer Service Centre or Napier's libraries. The consultation closes 5pm on Wednesday 12th May.