Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

City centre prime location for assault

Jordan Bond
By Jordan Bond
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
19 Jun, 2016 10:35 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Central Whangarei is the most common place for assaults or robberies in Northland, according to figures released by Statistics New Zealand.

There were 87 victims of assault, sexual assault or robbery in public places in central Whangarei last year.

Whangarei firm Northern Districts Security managing director Jean-Pierre Dignon said staff often saw fights, and said alcohol and drugs were "massive" contributors to aggressive behaviour. Patrols operated in the central city from 12am to 3am on weekends. He said the most common time for violence was 3am, after bars closed and staff would see between two and five fights a weekend.

"Some are really small, but some would involve a group of people or two groups of people fighting, and there would be 20 people involved. That might be one incident," Mr Dignon said.

He said police responded quickly when contacted about a violence, but police resources were limited.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Police do patrol, but they're not there constantly. I don't think they've got the resources to supply manpower just to be out there," he said. "It's a higher level issue than a police officer level because they don't have the budget. They also just follow instructions from higher up."

Mr Dignon said the company does not supply bouncers for bars because he doesn't want staff exposed to the fighting and intimidation culture in Whangarei. He said he believed violence has reduced in the last 10 years, but would always continue as long as people drank to excess.

He said he expected the real numbers of assaults to be even higher due to unreported incidents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In a statement, Whangarei Police Area Commander Inspector Justin Rogers said police "will look to send units" to high-offence areas.

"Police are continually looking to prevent public place violence and deploy officers into the area to do both mobile and foot patrols. A high-visibility presence works to prevent crimes from being committed ... Where we identify a pattern e.g. assaults or disorder occurring at a particular time and location, we will look to send units into those areas to prevent crime from occurring."

He said police worked closely with Whangarei District Council, which has upgraded CCTV around the city and organised foot patrols in the city at night.

Mr Rogers said an "increased trust and confidence" in police may have also led to higher numbers of reported assault.

Discover more

Three family members on charges

25 May 10:34 PM

Red blanket could hold key to gun theft

26 May 01:57 AM

Tagging hits council coffers

26 May 08:11 PM

Splash of ... safety

20 Jun 04:00 AM

By number of assaults, 2015

* Central Whangarei - 87 - Population: 174 - 50 per cent

* Kaikohe - 68 - Population: 3915 - 1.7 per cent

* Kaitaia West - 49 - Population: 3093 - 1.58 per cent

* Kaitaia East - 39 - Population: 1794 - 2.17 per cent

* Kerikeri - 38 - Population: 6504 - 0.58 per cent

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

* Dargaville - 35 - Population: 4251 - 0.8 per cent

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP