Dob in a thief for cash reward

By STACEY BODGER

ROTORUA - Rotorua police will give cash payments in exchange for information which leads to arrests for burglary or the recovery of stolen goods.

Detective Sergeant Dennis Murphy said the offer was being made in a bid to reduce the number of burglaries in Rotorua.

He would not say how much money would be paid for tip-offs, but said a similar scheme in 1998 cut the number of burglaries "significantly."

Police had also arrested a number of people and recovered a large amount of stolen property as a result of that scheme.

Detective Sergeant Murphy said the cash would not be handed over immediately after a tip-off.

The information would be investigated, and either an arrest would have to be made or goods recovered before any payment was made.

Rotorua is believed to be the only policing district in New Zealand operating the scheme.

Police in Auckland, Tauranga and Waikato said yesterday that they believed Rotorua's move was unique.

Each police district has an "informant fund" from which police can pay for information which leads to arrests.

Such payments are not restricted to burglary-related information.

But Detective Sergeant Murphy said the Rotorua scheme was a separate move following the success of the three-week Operation Focus crackdown on burglary in April.

Around 30 people were arrested in that operation.

"We'd prefer that people who know criminals would want to give us information for free but we're also realistic.

"This scheme is aimed at generating arrests and solving crime.

"We're just doing what we have to do in Rotorua."

Police statistics show an average of 35 burglaries are committed in Rotorua each week.

Detective Sergeant Murphy said the city's ratio of burglaries per head of population put it in the top four nationwide.

Battling burglary - a Herald series

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