Theft victim takes law into own hands

A Hamurana farmer who took his property back from thieves says he's concerned more rural people will be forced to take the law into their own hands.

A victim of a recent burglary, Todd Cooper claims a Police Northern Communications Centre operator sniggered at him when he asked for police to help retrieve his belongings.

He said he had traced the location "through the rural grapevine".

He rang police to ask for an officer to meet him at the address.



When the Daily Post first drew Mr Cooper's complaint to the attention of the Rotorua police Area Commander Inspector Bruce Horne he said he would be very disappointed and surprised if Mr Cooper had been laughed at.

After reviewing the tape he accepted there had been a minor laugh from the call-taker, but given the turn of phrase and its context a lot of people would have found the conversation "mildly humorous."

Mr Cooper remains adamant he was sniggered at and fobbed off.

It is his belief law-abiding people will be forced to turn to vigilante action to solve crimes in rural areas unless police "start getting their act together".

Mr Cooper said he heard his dog barking about 2am on Saturday but couldn't see anything untoward on his farmlet. He heard a car leaving and shortly after discovered a prized saddle was gone.

Fearing the thieves would return Mr Cooper said he spread the news on the "rural network" and within an hour knew where his gear was and who had taken it.

"I started spinning out. I was pacing the floor worried they would come back and clean out the shed," he told the Daily Post.

Mr Cooper said he was shocked by the response he received when he rang the police with the news he had solved the crime.

"I couldn't believe it. These guys would have sold my saddle for a tinnie or a box of booze within hours. I asked the police to go with me to the address and they just laughed at me. The guy said it was my problem until the job was assigned to an officer. I'd done their job for them and they expected me go there alone. I didn't know what to expect when I got there."

Finding his stolen property at the address, Mr Cooper said he shuddered to think that people in rural areas who are not trained to deal with criminals would be forced to solve crime themselves.

"I was concerned I would be the one getting charged and yet it was my property that was invaded. I shouldn't have to take the law into my own hands. That is being a vigilante ...

"I fear more people are going to have to solve their own crimes while police deal with minor revenue-collecting traffic matters."



Mr Horne said Mr Cooper had been dealt with professionally.

"There is a suggestion from Mr Cooper that the police were laughing at him. We totally reject that. When Mr Cooper indicated he was going to retrieve the property himself he was correctly advised to 'hang fire' and his complaint would be referred to Rotorua. That is the advice I would expect him to be given ."

Mr Horne said police strongly advised anyone against taking vigilante action.

Police relied on information from the public to solve crimes.

"If anyone sees anything suspicious or someone acting suspiciously we will act on it and we do get it right 99 per cent of the time ... because of communication sometimes we do get it wrong."

The Daily Post has listened several times to the tape of the conversation between Mr Cooper and the call-taker.

We can confirm there there is an audible "ha ha" from the operator after Mr Cooper said he was heading out to get his goods back and it would be nice to have some police company "or are they all busy now?".

At this point Mr Cooper was told to "hold fire" as the file would be passed on to Rotorua police. He then asked if he would hear from anyone.

The operator noted both Mr Cooper's home and mobile phone numbers.

At no stage was Mr Cooper told the matter was "his problem until he was assigned to an officer", nor did Mr Cooper comment on the laugh.