Increase in youth violence prompts daily police patrols at Auckland’s Whangaparāoa College

Police are patrolling the Whangaparaoa College grounds up to three times a day. Photo / Janna Dixon

Police are patrolling the grounds of an Auckland school up to three times a day in response to an increase in youth violence in both the school and wider community.

Last month officers began patrolling the grounds of Whangaparāoa College, in the north of Auckland, before and after class each day and at lunchtime.

Whangaparāoa College principal Steve McCracken said police had approached him about it at the start of the term.

The initiative had come about because of an increase in youth violence and offending “not only in our school but across the whole community”.

Schools were a “snapshot” of society and there had been a noticeable increase in violence and antisocial behaviour at the school recently, he said.

“From my perspective, this is an opportunity to engage in a really complete, whole community wraparound approach to nullifying what’s happening within our community. Then you’re putting measures in place to support our young people through this relatively challenging time.

“It’s not your traditional on-the-beat patrol.

“This is an opportunity for the Youth Aid officers to be able to come in and have those positive conversations with our young people.”

McCracken said the patrols had been going for five weeks and the general feeling around the school was more positive.

The school and police would look to measure the tangible outcomes from the patrols in the next six to 12 months.

Youth Aid Sergeant Jon Williams said it was “good old-fashioned policing” and the patrols were carried out by two uniformed Youth Aid officers or community officers.

“It’s a local project that we are implementing to help strengthen the relationship we have with our high schools. We will continue on this basis for the long term.

“This is a very low-key approach and is all about prevention and putting a friendly face to our local police. We are not patrolling looking for trouble, we are looking to build relationships with the school community and prevent issues before they happen.”

Whangaparāoa College principal Steve McCracken is happy to have police officers patrolling the school grounds and engaging with students. Photo / Supplied

Police have also spoken to Orewa College principal Greg Pierce about increasing their presence at the school.

Pierce said he did not see the need for a daily presence but was interested in having regular visits from Youth Aid officer so students could become familiar and engaged with them.

“We’ve got an allocated Youth Aid police officer. If that officer was to regularly come into the school and wander around and talk to students and take specific programmes with our students as part of the education cycle, I think that’s fantastic.

“But there’s a fine line between that and having, on a daily basis, police patrolling your school as opposed to engaging with your school.”

Orewa College principal Greg Pierce says having police Youth Aid officers visit the school regularly would be positive. Photo / Dean Purcell

He said young people often did not see police officers as people you could talk to normally, so a regular presence would be positive.

“I think the reality of today is communities are under stress for a variety of reasons and I think the chance of something from the community occurring at the school has probably never been higher.

“Ten years ago problems in the community were left at the school gate, so to speak. I think that’s changed quite significantly over the last few years and we need to be conscious of that.”

Isabel Evans, Ministry of Education deputy secretary for the north, said the ministry supported any school initiatives that prioritised the safety and wellbeing of their students and staff.

“Proactive prevention activities can reduce barriers that impact student wellbeing and achievement and support the school’s usual practices to keep their young people safe.

“Working collaboratively with local police to achieve shared goals is a good example of a school and community helping their young people.”

Police patrols at schools not new

In some areas of the country, regular school patrols by police and Youth Aid officers were quite common, a police spokesman said.

In the Rodney district, school visits by police staff were encouraged and took place often.

“It’s a great way to get to know our youth, their issues, and answer a ton of questions about police, policing, recruitment and the community,” Rodney-based Senior Constable Bryan Ward said.

Police Youth Aid staff often performed lunchtime walk-throughs of schools in the Taupō, Tokoroa and Tūrangi districts.

Youth Aid Sergeant Sarah Lloyd said it was a great way to build relationships and help prevent antisocial behaviour.

“This is common practice in the smaller communities. We also try and support in-school activities such as cross-country days or interschool events. Previously we have attended breakfast clubs too. Due to us being a small youth team, we engage with our frontline staff to help with schools where they can. I have asked frontline staff to try and make an effort to walk through our schools at lunchtime too.”

Police have been visiting schools in the Whanganui area for more than 20 years and Youth Services Sergeant Craig Yorston said the intent of the visits was to provide more visibility and engagement.

“We eat lunch with students at break time and discuss issues that they raise. Constable Ben Heap was in our largest intermediate school recently playing basketball with the students.”

West Coast Youth Aid Officer Sheree Clarke said she often did school walk-throughs with a dean.

“This involves checking toilets to ensure students are not vaping, there is no bullying in the toilets and also no property being damaged.”