Crime not isolated to West Auckland, residents say

Armed police responding to an incident in Henderson, West Auckland. Photo / RNZ

By RNZ

Unless you were living there, the only thing you may have seen come out of West Auckland recently was a slew of headlines depicting crime.

A police shootout, a dead body found in a waterway, and ram raids - all in March alone.

But what do the people who live there think?

“I think it’s pretty general, isn’t it?” said one shopper, “I mean, it’s not just West Auckland.”

Another repeated a similar sentiment.

“Crime is definitely all over the place, not just West Auckland. I pay more attention when it’s out west because it’s in your own area.”

But still some others considered it a serious issue.

“I only see what’s on the media, what’s on the photos and videos, but it’s not very nice,” a longtime resident said.

Henderson-Massey Community Board chair Chris Carter is one who believes the area has a bad reputation.

“The image at the moment is of the Wild West. Curiously enough, that’s often been the image of West Auckland. Yes, media stories do have an impact on perception, but look, I live Te Atatū South, I come here often for shopping, my office is here - I’ve never felt unsafe.”

Crime was tragic but could be blown out of proportion, Carter said.

“In the New Zealand context it’s serious. In the global context this is a week in Sydney or probably a day in LA, we have to keep things in context. New Zealand generally, even in areas where people think there is high crime, is still a pretty peaceful place.”

However West Auckland Trust Services chief executive Allan Pollard disagreed.

“I do think and believe that the media has now caught up to speed with reality. It’s the reality, it’s real, it’s happening in West Auckland as it is happening throughout the whole of Auckland.”

He said of the trust’s 25 liquor stores in West Auckland, not a single one had been safe from robbery or attempted robbery.

MP for Te Atatū Phil Twyford also said crime was an issue and agreed it was not isolated to West Auckland.

“I don’t want to downplay those incidents at all but it’s really important to remember that these kinds of criminal offending - they happen all over New Zealand. It’s not a West Auckland thing, they happen all over Auckland and all over New Zealand.”

Central Park Business Association (CHBA) treasurer Tim Livingstone said local businesses were suffering and that was why he was lobbying for change.

“We first went to Phil Twyford with our concerns about what was going on and we believe that we had a four-point plan which we discussed with Phil. He didn’t accept all of them.”

The four points of the CHBA’s plan were:

• tackle truancy
• ankle bracelets for repeat offenders under the age of 14
• overhaul of police resources and support
• sack Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

Phil Twyford rejected all but the first point.

Twyford said putting electronic devices on children would not achieve anything, that they were already in the process of providing police with more adequate resources, and that he did not understand the thought process behind singling out the police commissioner.

Unitec lecturer in social practice Professor Geoff Brigdman has studied the perception of crime in West Auckland. He said reporting on crime was important, but it was not always a sign of a greater issue.

“Just because you see one awful consequence of crime of some poor guy getting shot, that’s not crime in Henderson - that’s just an incident.”

However, West Auckland lacked some of the resources that helped keep people out of trouble, he said.

“If you’re in South Henderson you’re never going to have a home game - there’s nowhere to play a home game. You’re always going to have to travel outside of your community to have fun. If we’re designing communities in that way, that we can’t have fun in them, then you’re going to have crime.”

Area Commander Sunny Patel told RNZ in a statement that they were aware of a series of several high-profile incidents in the West Auckland community.

“However, generally speaking in the Waitematā West Policing area, we are not seeing any increases in reported crime that are higher than other parts of Auckland,” Patel said.

Waitematā West includes the suburbs of New Lynn, Henderson, Te Atatū, Massey, Hobsonville and Piha.