Kaikohe turns on thieves and taggers

Kaikohe residents are harnessing the power of social media to reclaim their town from thieves and taggers.

A Facebook page designed to deter vandalism and other crime in the town, and to gather information to pass on to police, attracted 2420 members in less than two weeks. The entire population of Kaikohe, according to the 2006 Census, is 4100.

Information from the group, Kaikohe Community Watch, has already sparked what police described as "three significant inquiries." Earlier this week arrests were thought to be imminent.

The Facebook group was set up on July 3 by businessman Tony Taylor, who is also the driving force behind Kaikohe's community patrol. He launched because most people had had a "total gutsful" of tagging, vandalism and disrespect.

The town had a better chance of attracting employment if it could be made a safe place to live, he added.

Within the first 48 hours group members had named all the taggers and most of the burglars whose photos had been posted, and had helped to find a lost girl.

Anyone in the group can post photos, CCTV footage or information. Others then put names to the images, passing on information, anonymously if required, by private message or an 0800 number. Any useful information is then passed to the authorities.

As well as identifying taggers and thieves, the page has been used to find the owners of stray dogs and get word out about stolen cars and missing people. One crystal-clear CCTV video showed two men nonchalantly rifling through a car while sucking on a home-made bong; a clear series of stills shows two young women and a cross-dressing man emptying out a shed.

The town's relieving senior sergeant, Glenn Taplin, praised the initiative, saying information from the group had led to three significant inquiries. The Facebook page gave police a good feel of what was happening in town, and what the community thought about it.

"It gives the community some ownership, by putting information they know into a public forum. It shows there's some real heart in the Kaikohe community," he said.

To join the group go to www.facebook.com and search for Kaikohe Community Watch.