Mayoral candidate Efeso Collins on crime: More cops on the beat and improve derelict town centres

Efeso Collins says anyone you talk to these days could probably name a recent shooting, ram raid or physical assault. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins will push for more community constables on the beat if he wins the chains of office on October 8.

In one of his first key campaign speeches, the Manukau councillor said more police on the beat, better resources to support young people and getting local businesses to the table will make communities safer.

"Anyone you talk to these days could probably name a recent shooting, ram raid or physical assault that they've seen, or had it happened to a friend or acquaintance.

"We feel less safe when we go out at night and we are bombarded with scary headlines every morning on our social media feeds about drive-bys and gang violence."

Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins outlined his plan for a safer community tonight. Photo / Supplied

Speaking at the Ngati Ōtara multisport complex, Collins said it's sports club like this that can start the process of getting young people into something positive and away from gangs, violence and a life of crime.

"As I've said elsewhere, to go hard on crime, we have to go hard on poverty - which is no easy task," Collins said.

As a member of a high-level advisory panel to the Police that meets every six weeks or so, Collins said he will build on that relationship and bring that direct line within the top levels of the police to tackle the challenges faced by the city.

"I will start by advocating for more community constables to be walking the beat on our streets and in our town centres."

Along with a front-line response, Collins sees the need for preventative measures, singling out better-resourced youth workers to get into hard-to-get corners of the city.

He also wants to sharpen up the council's spending on employment programmes to help young people from school to education to jobs and "into lives of importance".

"And most crucially, as mayor, I can get the collaborative conversation we need to have, to get our communities working together. That means getting our local businesses to the table."

Collins said as mayor he would see Auckland beyond the CBD and promote an entrepreneurial spirit to the city's regional hubs, rather than allow derelict town centres to continue to degrade and become sitting ducks for petty crime.