‘Operation Demio’: Napier police form unit to nab car thieves

King of Swords in Napier was ram-raided last week. Photo NZME

Napier police have formed a “dedicated team of people” to curb the spate of vehicle thefts in Napier.

Hawke’s Bay Area Commander Lincoln Sycamore is asking for the public to keep sharing information and reporting criminal activity after an increase in vehicles being stolen across Napier in the past few weeks.

These vehicles are then sometimes being used to commit further offences, such as commercial burglaries and ram-raids.

On Monday police confirmed they’d recovered 13 out of 20 vehicles reported stolen across the region in a single weekend.

“Police know that this type of offending can leave our community feeling vulnerable,” Sycamore said..

“We have assigned a dedicated a team of people to identify the perpetrators, with a view to prosecution. We’re also trying to understand what drives this offending and how best to intervene and prevent future occurrences of this nature.”

Within the past week Police have arrested a number of youths who have been referred for further action.

“We have identified a number of young people who we will be following up with.

King of Swords, a Emerson St store in Napier CBD, was ram raided during the early hours of last Monday - the third offence of a similar nature in the city in two weeks.

Sycamore said Police cannot solve the offending without the help of our community and partners.

Napier City Council is “actively supporting our efforts” through an increase in CCTV camera coverage and camera monitoring as well as exploring other measures to deter offenders from targeting Napier’s retailers.

Look out for your neighbours and if you see something suspicious and it’s happening NOW, call 111.

If you have information regarding these offences, then call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and quote Operation Demio.