"We need cops in Kaikohe." Kaikohe resident Justin Harnish has written an open letter urging action against rising crime.
"We need cops in Kaikohe." Kaikohe resident Justin Harnish has written an open letter urging action against rising crime.
After experiences with break-ins, car thefts and slow police responses, a Kaikohe resident has penned an open letter calling for action.
Justin Harnish has been a Kaikohe resident for over a decade and said he has noticed a shift. Things are getting worse.
“All too often, when I’m out ofthe area and I’m asked where I’m from, I mention Kaikohe and the eyebrows rise. There is a growing narrative that Kaikohe is this high-crime area, and as I live here, I tend to hand-wave it away,” Harnish said.
“So, I googled it. Depending how you ask the question, you get a slightly different response but all tend to paint Kaikohe as a high-crime town.”
Harnish said he wrote the open letter after being fuelled by information he found and the experiences and anecdotal information from other residents and neighbours.
“From personal experience, I have been burgled twice and had one car stolen and one attempted theft of another car. Both were written off. There are a group of flats next door which have experienced several burglaries and domestic violence. I have also personally experienced verbal and physical – not excessive but very threatening – abuse from a neighbour.”
He said in his experience, police took around 30 minutes to respond.
“I have yet to take the next step to address this situation with further letters to MPs etc. I started with the open letter to get a feel for what the rest of the town thinks. Thus far, with a population of almost 4700, there has been 114 people liking the open letter.”
He said in many of the crimes, drugs are involved.
“Kaikohe is not spelled with a ‘P’ and we should not allow it to be. We need cops in Kaikohe. Something should be done about it on a governmental level.”
Northland District Commander Superintendent Matt Srhoj said that like a lot of towns, Kaikohe has been struggling with crime and there has been an increase over the years, with the high levels of drug use being behind a lot of the crimes.
Northland District Commander Superintendent Matt Srhoj said Kaikohe has been struggling with crime, like a lot of towns. Photo / Michael Cunningham
“A big part of what we are responsible for is trying to control the supply of drugs.”
“We can connect meth as an issue, even though we knew it was, we have evidence to show it now. Kaitaia is very similar in that regard. Again, another provincial town that is struggling with a number of economic challenges that contribute to a cycle of things we need to shift.”
Srhoj said in recent months, police have had operations around Kaikohe and Kaitāia where more police were coming in to help “us get on top of some of the things we haven’t been able to get to”.
He said a number of serious crimes have occurred recently, which have taken up a lot of police resources.
“Recruiting in the Mid North has been tough, that is one of the pushes we are making at the moment, we want to recruit in the Mid and Far North. We still have some vacancies, we have been plugging those with people from out the area, so we have sufficient staff.
“It’s been really good getting a lot of support from national headquarters.”
Srhoj said the community needed to work with them in reporting crimes.
“We do want to know what is happening, no one should have to put up with crime in their town ... everything is based on risk, but report everything. The public are our eyes and ears.”
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said he was proud of the mahi (work) community leaders and council are putting in daily to make Kaikohe a great place to live.
“The council is working with our business associations, community boards and the police to upgrade CCTV monitoring of our town centre. Far North business associations successfully put in a joint bid for funding from central Government. A review of CCTV coverage is now under way for a number of town centres in the Far North, including Kaikohe. That review will inform us on the steps needed to make CCTV more effective and our towns safer.”
He added that an important part of crime prevention was tackling the causes.
Tepania said he continues to advocate for improved police resourcing for all Far North communities.
