Napier Police Station closes at 6pm on weekdays. Also pictured is Puk Kireka who pleaded guilty to a kidnapping outside the station. Photo / NZME
Napier Police Station closes at 6pm on weekdays. Also pictured is Puk Kireka who pleaded guilty to a kidnapping outside the station. Photo / NZME
When a woman covered in blood was kidnapped outside Napier Police Station in the middle of the night, the station was closed and unmanned.
She ran up to the station’s front door just after 4am four months ago, before she was grabbed and forced into a sports car by herpartner, notorious gang member Puk Kireka.
The case, which received national attention after Kireka’s guilty plea in the Napier District Court this week, has raised questions about whether police stations should be open to the public 24 hours a day.
Over the past decade, many police stations once open 24/7 - including Napier - have shifted to reduced hours, preferring to have officers on the street than behind the front counter at night.
Dunedin Police Station was the latest to drop to reduced hours at the beginning of this year.
Just five police stations across the country now remain open 24/7 offering refuge for people in an emergency at night: Auckland Central, Henderson, Manukau, Wellington Central and Timaru.
Most stations in city centres shut to the public between 4pm and 9pm.
NZ Police Association president Chris Cahill. Photo / NZME
NZ Police Association president, and former Napier detective, Chris Cahill said the current model around opening hours came down to the best use of officers.
“It is a challenge because certainly when you go to a police station you would like someone to be there.
“Equally, if you ring 111 you like the idea that a police car will turn up at your address as quickly as possible, and that is the balance.
“I think my preference is I would prefer a police officer in a car, than sitting behind a desk at a station.”
He said there was perhaps a public perception that closing stations overnight had not always translated to more officers on the streets at night.
“I think the public would be much more supportive of police stations having shorter hours if they were convinced that there were more officers on the street. I am not sure they see that as happening all the time.”
He said, for any police stations with cells, it was considered a safety risk to have an officer looking after prisoners while also manning the front counter at night, as prisoners need monitoring and can harm themselves.
Police Minister Stuart Nash. Photo / NZME
Police Minister and Napier MP Stuart Nash said any decisions around opening hours for stations was up to the area commander “based on operational factors”.
“They cannot and should not be directed by politicians.”
He said Hawke’s Bay and the wider Eastern Police District had seen an increase in police in recent years and there were 555 police staff including non-sworn civilian employees in the region.
“There are several factors that police take into account when considering how best to deploy staff, which includes things like population, geography and historic and current demand for service,” he said.
“Police operate in a mobile environment, and at any one time officers are out across our communities responding to, and helping prevent, crime and anti-social behaviour.”
A police spokesman said “opening hours to the public vary and depends on demand” at each police station.
“When the police stations are not open to the public police are mobile, ready to respond immediately to emergencies, keeping their eyes on the street, to help prevent incidents from happening.”
He said people should call 111 in an emergency.
There is generally an emergency phone outside police stations, which can be used after hours.
Police confirmed, depending on the station, that phone can go to a “watch house” or to a 111 call centre.
