Palmerston North city councillor Mark Arnott: We need more CCTV in the city

Palmerston North city councillor Mark Arnott says safety in the community is a huge priority for him.

Opinion

History is a lifelong passion of mine so I was delighted to be placed onto various history committees around the city.

Being on the Anzac/Armistice committee and with Anzac Day last week, I had completed an article about the little-known but world-class Engineers Corps Memorial Centre at Linton Army Camp and the medical museum at our hospital.

They are potentially in danger of being lost to Manawatū, much like our Air Force Museum at Ōhakea. But that will have to wait for another day as I now realise there are more pressing issues to raise here.

At last week’s council committee meeting, councillors heard about council staff being verbally and physically abused while going about their jobs. That night I attended a retailers’ meeting with police and council officials, and heard in harrowing detail about our shop owners’ daily struggles with mobs of out-of-control youths running riot through our city.

Last Thursday morning I was part of a Safe City meeting, chaired by councillor Pat Handcock, with various government departments, and all agreed we need to work together to make positive change. There seems a common theme of community disorder and it is very disquieting for those caught up in it, with seemingly little power to deal with the issue as it affects them.

I have heard many times that “this isn’t a council problem”. I disagree. Whatever catchphrase we put to it, like good leaders, we have to lead from the front. If you do the same thing you get the same result as previous examples. Doing nothing cannot be an option.

I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of CCTV. If we doubled the number of digital cameras around our CBD and city and had them appropriately reviewed, perhaps the trouble might be quashed before it starts, as has been observed in Hawke’s Bay.

The Hastings District Council is the lead agency of Safer Hastings, a coalition of 30 partners working together to help keep citizens and businesses safer in their community. The partners represent a diverse group of government and community agencies that collaborate to improve community safety.

They have found a diverse mix of initiatives such as extensive CCTV, City Assist ambassadors, kaitiaki, night security, skatepark guardians, Neighbourhood Support and community patrols have led to crime and anti-social behaviour being seriously reduced.

Safety in the community is a huge priority for me. The council is working on strategies to address safety issues in our city.

Perhaps we should take note of the Hastings District Council’s strategies that have worked for them. We all need to work together and, importantly, act before there is serious harm.

Mark Arnott is a Palmerston North city councillor.