Mayor John Carter has called on Kaitaia's business community to get behind what he describes as a ground-breaking crime prevention initiative that could make their property safer (How safe does Kaitaia want to be? Northland Age November 10).
Mr Carter has written to several hundred business owners, advising them that Aupouri Social Services' Total Security Management had been re-launched under the umbrella of the Far North Safer Community Council, to monitor burglar alarms and surveillance cameras in Kaitaia and to provide security patrols in the town at night.
TSM had only been running for a short time but had already reduced crime, with fewer burglaries in the commercial area and had been credited for an improvement in the behaviour of young people.
The main difference between TSM and other safer community initiatives was that it was proactive rather than reactive.
"It allows authorities to intervene before crimes are committed instead of after the damage is done," Mr Carter wrote.
"Young people are suddenly realising that the community is watching them, and that it expects a certain standard of behaviour from them. This means fewer businesses are vandalised or broken into and business owners spend less time cleaning up after break-ins, reporting crimes to the police and making claims to insurance companies. I intend to talk to insurance companies about TSM, which could lower insurance premiums.
The Kaitaia Business Association supports TSM, and is installing 78 extra security cameras in the town, with financial help from business owners who are paying for cameras to be installed near their premises," he added.
"This will bring the total number of cameras the association operates to 118 and give the community a powerful crime prevention tool. However, these cameras are only effective at fighting crime if they are monitored. TSM can provide that service, but it needs at least 200 businesses to sign up to its alarm monitoring and patrolling check services to break even."
The cost would vary, depending on the size of the business premises and what services were required, from as little as $40 a week. Businesses that did not have alarms or regular night premises checks could support the service by paying $5 a week, $20 a month.
"That's a small price to pay to assist in the camera monitoring for the area where their business is located," he said. "Home owners can also subscribe to TSM services for alarm monitoring and response.
"I encourage you to support this initiative, which will make Kaitaia safer and provide work opportunities for our people," he added. "TSM has already created 10 new jobs. This number could rise to 20 or more if enough businesses support the initiative."