Whangārei police beef up patrols after mass brawl

Whangārei police deployed more officers in the city after a mass brawl the day before involving 20 students and adults. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

Whangārei police deployed more officers to patrol areas within the city to ensure there was no repeat of a mass brawl involving up to 20 students, and adults that took place this week.

The crime prevention unit patrolled the Cameron St mall, Vine St carpark, and the Rose St bus terminal after school yesterday after the brawl on Wednesday.

Sergeant Mohammed Atiq said the extra presence was to ensure violence didn't flare up again and that the need for another round of police presence after school today would be reviewed.

The brawls between two groups of students started in the Cameron St mall on Wednesday and continued through Quality St and into the Vine St carpark before spilling over on to Rose St bus terminal.

On Tuesday, Kamo High School principal Natasha Hemara wrote to parents after four students were caught fighting and police recovered a BB gun and a knife following the incident.

Student onlookers filmed the clash and posted the footage on social media sites.
Three school principals have so far condemned the violence.

Anne Cooper, principal of Whangārei Girls' High School, said most of what was happening at present was a societal problem made worse by mounting pressure everyone was under which needed a combined response.

"I do not think there are any tensions between schools but there have been/are tensions between individual and groups of students and their whānau, who might be attending different schools," Cooper said.

"We do not tolerate violence and treat it seriously when it occurs. We are trying to address the underlying causes.

"One strategy under way is a focus on wellbeing through the Kāhui Ako, where the 40-plus schools are working together to implement programmes to improve the wellbeing of students and staff in each school," she said.

Whangārei's five Kahui Ako or communities of learning — those are five clusters of schools and early learning services which come together using a staffing and funding resource from the Ministry of Education — have formed a hub which brings together 44 schools, 600 teachers and impact 13,000 students.

The goal is to improve student wellbeing by tackling three major issues — attendance, transience, and mental health.

Whangārei Boys' High School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith said messages about behaviour and conduct in the community were conversations that her staff regularly have with students.

"At the moment, we are not having school assemblies due to Covid social distancing requirements so we rely on other means to get consistent messaging out to students.

"It is very disappointing that we are seeing this kind of behaviour especially when so many of our young people are engaged in much more positive social action in our community," she said.

Early this month, a 15-year-old boy and two former students allegedly entered a classroom at Kerikeri High School during a Year 10 lesson and attacked another student who suffered bruises.

The boy allegedly involved in the attack was suspended.