Horowhenua crime rates drop

Senior Constable Graham Wright starts his new beat as Levin's community constable replacing Graeme Jarvis who retired last month.

Crime levels are decreasing in Horowhenua, but when it comes to family violence, the statistics are anything but flash.

Members of Levin police gave a 'state of the district' update to councillors at last week's council meeting, confirming that local crime levels are decreasing.

Victim crime was down 12.9 per cent, shoplifting by 20 per cent, general theft by 45.5 per cent and topping the list, theft from vehicles down by 47.7 per cent since 2011, which was attributed to good police work with support from community groups.

Other good news for the district was the road toll at an historic low. While one death was considered one too many, Horowhenua had had no deaths this year and the number of serious injuries was low compared to an increasing national trend. Inspector David White said while this was good news there was still the "age old problem" of drink-driving, not wearing seat belts and using mobile phones while driving.

Police were also putting a greater focus on home burglaries and Horowhenua residents were receiving a good service from forensics while community patrols were helping keep a lid on crime.

The Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) was back to full strength with four members and its initiatives included mobility scooter training for older people, the graduated driver license programme for young drivers struggling to get their license and the CACTUS programme (an eight-week programme led by police in partnership with colleges and service providers designed to extend a young person's mental and physical capability).

NPT would also maintain its focus on family harm programmes monitoring victims and offenders, continue its Traffic Offending Education Diversion Scheme, which had a great response last year, and the Solway Park and Morgan Crescent Park upgrades in conjunction with district council and other partners.

Sergeant Tracey Wharehoka (Iwi Liaison) gave an overview of police initiatives dealing with family violence - the elephant in the room as she described it.

She told council a family violence incident is reported every five minutes around the clock in New Zealand.

Horowhenua had the second highest rate per capita - 1600 incidents in the year July 2014 to June 2015, equating to 61 per cent of police calls for service compared to the national average of 40 per cent.

Of those 1600 call outs, 806 had children attached or present, a total of 1122 children, and of those children 329 were involved in repeat incidents.

Ms Wharehoka said a new initiative Whanau Tu Whanau Ora ( Stand Together), a collaboration between the Whanau Ora Strategic Innovation and Development Group, Manawatu Police and Child Youth and Families Service, will go some way to address the over-representation of Maori in family violence incidents.

The project aims to positively engage with Maori whanau involved in a reported family violence incident, focusing on referrals where no offence has been identified by police.

A second initiative is the Whanau Ora Alternative Resolutions Model (WOARM), which aims to provide an alternative pathway for those arrested for low level offences and reduce the number of Maori entering or re-entering the justice system.

Both initiatives are underpinned by the partnership between police and iwi (Raukawa Whanau Ora and Muaupoko Tribal Authority).

Te Ara Tika (the right pathway/road), a learner driving license education programme run by police and co-facilitated by community partners delivering one-on-one driving tuition over a three or four-hour period, followed by sitting the license, was proving successful.

It was aimed at people who could not or had not accessed the usual or existing channels to gain a license.

Council heard the district would see an influx of new faces on the force, with four new recruits starting their two year probationary period on the district beat next month, a new sergeant due to start at Foxton police station, and a much-awaited replacement for community constable Graeme Jarvis who retired last month. Senior constable Simon Carter will start his town beat this month.