Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell is calling on the Government to help the city address a spate of attacks on students and provide more police.
The Rotorua District Council is spending $1.8 million a year for inner-city security, and the mayor says the council is acting beyond its core responsibilities by needing to address crime and ensure community safety.
In the past few days two young girls were attacked in public and left bloodied and bruised, one outside a bus stop where many schoolchildren are dropped off.
“Unfortunately, we have been informed that in some instances, children were wearing certain colours, which does lead us to believe that there may have been some gang influence [in the attacks],” Tapsell says.