Thieves who target vehicles in central Whangarei carparks beware - the eyes and ears of community volunteers are on you and prepared to stop any illegal activity.
Members of the Blue Club, made up of volunteers, have started patrolling carparks in and around the CBD to stop thefts from, andof, vehicles, after a Summersafe programme, which patrolled carparks at Whangarei tourist spots, was credited with a 75 per cent reduction in thefts from vehicles.
City Safe, in conjunction with police, the Whangarei District Council, Chamber of Commerce, and Blue Club, will oversee the city carpark project, and it's hoped to be as successful as the summer programme.
Blue Club spokesman Ross Wagner said the summer programme was so successful he wanted to extend it to city carparks and with the support of police and the council it had become a reality far quicker than he expected.
There were 1560 thefts of or from vehicles reported in Northland in 2001, with only 308, less than 20 per cent, resolved.
Mr Wagner said the patrols acted as guardians of the carparks, keeping their eyes peeled for any potential thefts and other problems, such as litter, over-flowing rubbish bins and graffiti. They could also provide information for visitors.
"If they see anything suspicious they will report it to police straight away. If they see bins overflowing or graffiti or anything like that the council will be told so it can be rectified as soon as possible," Mr Wagner said.
He said the Blue Club was always looking for more volunteers to patrol the carparks and carry out its other tasks, such as manning the CCTV cameras that watch over the CBD. Anyone keen could contact him via rosswagner@xtra.co.nz
District council community safety officer Dave Palmer said the council moved quickly to back the plan in an effort to support the police and make car parks safer.
"No thefts occurred in the (tourist) carparks they were patrolling over summer and we'd hope it could be as successful in the city carparks," he said.
Whangarei police area controller Paul Dimery said he fully supported the initiative.
