One Putaruru business has been hit six times this year, reports Melissa Moxon.
PUTARURU - A spate of burglaries has prompted Putaruru businesses to call two meetings to tackle the problem.
The business association, Pride in Putaruru, will hold its own meeting on Monday and a public meeting on Wednesday.
Putaruru Men's and
Boyswear has been burgled six times this year, most recently on June 10 when several thousand dollars worth of clothing was stolen.
The disgruntled owners, Sandra and Alan Wilson, are considering closing down.
Other shops have lost items ranging from video games to stamps and cash.
The coordinator of Pride in Putaruru, Mel Embling, said the scale of the problem would be known after the meetings.
"We're not saying it's a crimewave," she said.
"People have been broken into in the past and we wanted to get together and see what we could do about it.
"We're not sitting around letting people get away with things."
Business people insist the town has a low crime rate.
Police Sergeant Kevin Taylor said Putaruru's reported crime dropped 21 per cent between 1997 and 1998, and crime was still running at last year's level.
"We have problems like a lot of small towns - petty crime and burglaries in the town centre," he said.
"It comes down to unemployment and boredom.
"We have very little violence and no gangs. In a small town one or two offenders can make a large impact on crime levels."
Norman Barker, Putaruru's representative on the South Waikato District Council, said the crime rate was better than in most small towns, but the burglaries needed to be addressed.
He said Maori warden night patrols would be re-established and a spotlight installed soon over the council's Garden of Memories.
The garden is across the road from the Wilsons' shop and is a popular gathering place for loitering teens.
