KEY POINTS:
Police and Neighbourhood Support have launched a crackdown against parents in Rotorua leaving children alone in vehicles.
Neighbourhood Support office manager Janette Brown says she and volunteers were walking the streets - leaving leaflets on vehicles found unlocked or with valuables visible - when they noticed the surprising number of children left sitting alone in cars.
Ms Brown said she rang the police, who spoke to the parents when they returned.
She said the problem became worse during school holidays, and often a reminder from a police officer about the dangers was enough to embarrass parents not to do it again.
"Don't get me wrong, I can see how parents get stressed out but there are too many kids out there in cars alone. What if someone was to pinch the car?"
Senior Sergeant Brent Crowe said leaving children under the age of 14 unsupervised in cars was an offence and carried a maximum fine of $2000.
"I wouldn't leave my kids in a vehicle any longer than it takes to gas up your car and go inside and pay. Even then I would be watching over my shoulder constantly to make sure they are okay."
Mr Crowe said there were so many dangers, including someone taking the children, or the youngsters releasing the handbrake, starting the vehicle, playing with the cigarette lighter or leaving the car and wandering off.
He said police and Neighbourhood Support would crack down on parents during the school holidays, despite common beliefs that it was okay to leave children in cars when they were young.
"I don't accept that argument," Mr Crowe said. "The world has changed from 20 or 30 years ago. It's a matter of doing what is appropriate now, not what was done in the past."
Rotorua Rockshop manager Daryl Cogger said he had telephoned the police in the past when a car outside his Hinemoa St shop had been there for longer than an hour with children under 3 in it.
Their mother was next door playing poker machines.
Gemtime Jeweller employee Marlene Metcalfe said staff often rang police or went to the City Focus police officers with concerns about children in cars while their parents were in nearby pokie bars.
The Daily Post found two cars within half an hour in which children had been left alone.
One, in Hinemoa St, had children aged 11, 3 and 2.
Their mother was in the shop directly opposite, dropping off her daughter at a craft class.
"It was only for a short time and it would be too hard to get them all out," she said.
Another car, also parked in Hinemoa St, had two boys aged 7 and 2 inside.
The Daily Post waved down a passing police officer after the children had been alone for 13 minutes. Their mother immediately arrived.
The police officer took her details and warned her about leaving children alone in cars.
In June last year a Rotorua man left a baby in a car while he went into a Te Ngae Rd medical clinic. The car was stolen with the infant inside.
It was found after a major police hunt, in a Pak'N Save staff carpark.
Meanwhile, two 7-year-old cousins who were dropped off by a parent at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre were sent home with a friend of the family because they didn't have adult supervision.
The operations manager, Colin Elstob, said all children under 8 had to have a supervisor who is over 16.
He said the problem of unsupervised young children generally occurred during school holidays.
Motherly instincts to the fore
When Caroline saw a crying baby alone in a car, her motherly instincts kicked in.
The boy, estimated to be aged between 18 months and 2, was in a car on Eruera St in Rotorua screaming with tears streaming down his face.
He was babbling "Mum, mum, mum" but his mother was nowhere to be seen. Two women had been watching the child for 10 minutes.
"When I pulled up, I heard the two people say 'he's hysterical, I'm not sure what we should do'," Caroline, the mother of a 14-month-old, said.
When they told her the situation, Caroline found the boot of the hatchback unlocked, climbed in and took the child out.
Meanwhile, another bystander found the child's mother in a changing room at a nearby clothing shop. She was furious at Caroline for interfering. "She said she would have preferred if I had left him in there. I got so angry with her ... She said, 'he always does this, don't worry about it'."
Afterwards, Caroline was worried she had done the wrong thing.
"I wasn't sure if I should have rung the police or if this was a 111 emergency.
"He was clearly distressed and we couldn't find his mother so I acted on impulse."
Senior Sergeant Brent Crowe said anyone who saw a distressed child in a car should ring 111, however if there was a risk of imminent harm or death to the child immediate action should be taken.
"What she [Caroline] did was a caring and compassionate act, however it could have had consequences if the parents came back and showed aggression.
"But it's a difficult one; she was a mother acting on motherly instincts taking a distressed child out of a stressful situation."
-DAILY POST
