Kaitaia burglars feeling the heat

A police 'burglary clean-up team,' formed in Kaitaia in response to an on-going spate of offending, is getting good results according to officer in charge Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan.

In the past two weeks five people had been charged with burglary, one with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle and disqualified driving, and four arrests had been made on existing warrants. That took the total since the beginning of March to 28 arrests on 43 burglary offences, 80 per cent of those charged being aged 22 years or under.

Senior Sergeant Ryan said his staff had been actively targeting known burglars, then using other tactics to deter them from re-offending.

"These offenders are on bail, so we check them regularly to make sure they are not breaching their conditions," he said. "Breaches of bail are treated with urgency, and sometimes see them locked up."

That could be effective with young people, especially if they had to spend a night in the cells, he said, adding that "managing" those offenders "often gives the biggest bang for buck".

Along with enforcement, officers were also carrying out high-visibility foot patrols in areas that had been targeted by burglars.

"We get a lot of value from talking to people. Just by approaching people and talking to them we may stop a crime that is about to happen, or get information from them that could prevent a crime," he added.

The Kaitaia Neighbourhood Policing Team was doing a lot of follow-up work with victims of crime, and was visiting people who had been burgled to offer them crime prevention advice.

Senior Sergeant Ryan said many burglars were males aged between 12 and 20 years, who were after alcohol or items they could sell quickly to raise the money to buy alcohol.

"This is where bail checks are essential. If these young people are staying at home and off the alcohol they will not be offending," he said.

Enforcement alone was not the answer, however, given that many young offenders were disengaged from the community, and lacked education, work and/or good role models.

"We, as a community, need to work with these young people and re-direct them through mentoring, training courses and providing them with good role models," he said.

Meanwhile many of the business people who had had problems with burglary and other crime had done a good deal recently to protect their property, such as making it harder for people to steal alcohol from their shops.

Police were also urging householders to take precautions such as locking doors, windows, sheds, garages, and if necessary padlocking farm sheds; communicating with neighbours and asking them to be alert; arranging for someone to collect mail and mow lawns while on holiday; installing sensor lights/alarms; removing keys from vehicles and closing gates; noting the registration numbers of suspicious vehicles (burglars will often "scope out" an address before breaking in); keeping valuables out of sight; recording serial numbers and photographing expensive or significant items; and recording possessions on the SNAP website (www.snap.org.nz).