KEY POINTS:
An emergency meeting between principals and the Hastings mayor has taken place after a policeman was allegedly punched in the face by a 14-year-old boy while trying to break up a fight yesterday afternoon.
The fight between students of two Hastings Schools was watched by a group of
200 students.
The clash took place at Flaxmere Park in Hastings and is believed to have been a result of an ongoing argument between students from two high schools.
Hastings District mayor Lawrence Yule said there will now be a stronger police presence in the area at the end of the day and school buses from one school will no longer stop outside the other.
"It's not good for either of the two schools, or Flaxmere or Hastings City," Mr Yule said.
He said Flaxmere was a beautiful part of the district but had received some bad press lately. Mr Yule said the fight had "been portrayed as a huge brawl" but was really "a bit of school rivalry that has gotten out of control".
Acting Senior Sergeant Cory Ubels said two officers had been at one of the schools dealing with an incident from the previous day when they learned that up to 200 students had gathered at the park for a fight.
When they arrived, a number of students were already fighting, while the majority of the crowd looked on.
As they tried to stop the fighting both officers were injured, one receiving a sore neck and the other cuts to his face when he was punched.
Mr Ubels said 30 officers were called in from around the district to help control the situation, which included stopping the fighting and breaking up the large number of students who were watching.
The cut officer assisted with the arrest of seven students, aged 13-15, and helped process them at the police station before going to hospital to have three stitches in his cheek. He returned to work to complete the rest of his shift last night.
Mr Ubels said enquiries were being made into the background of the fight and who the ringleaders were.
He said it was speculation that the fight occurred as a result of previous incidents but if true it meant the students had taken the law into their own hands, which created a number of problems, including dragging officers away from other jobs in the district.
"We had at least 30 officers there that had come from all over the area that were no longer patrolling Havelock, Hastings or Flaxmere because they were at this incident with a bunch of stupid idiots who just wanted to take the law into their own hands."
Mr Ubels said anyone with information about fights should tell their teachers or police immediately. Going along to watch only increased the chances of becoming involved.
"The problem is you go and watch and you get involved because you see your friends get hit and you go and spring them out then someone hits and it just escalates so just keep away."
Mr Ubels said the 14-year-old who allegedly punched the officer will appear in the Youth Court today charged with assaulting a police officer.
The six other students have been charged with disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence and have been referred to youth aid.
A 13-year-old boy was also arrested after being found in possession of a chain.
