Dairy owners set to stand in solidarity, the 'dangerous' Three Waters provision lawyers are calling out and healthcare pay parity in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
A Tauranga shop owner who joined a nationwide vigil to pay tribute to slain Auckland dairy worker Janak Patel says rising crime in dairies “has to be stopped”.
Other “scared” dairy owners shared their fears of being targeted and called for more to be done to protect them.
Dairies nationwide closed their doors between 12.30pm and 2.30pm to protest what were considered insufficient Government measures to address crime following last week’s fatal stabbing.
It comes as the Government has announced a multi-million dollar package to tackle retail crime and reoffending.
The package included a new $4m fund to support councils in Auckland, Hamilton, and the Bay of Plenty with crime prevention programmes, a new fog cannon subsidy scheme, and an extension to the $6m Retail Crime Prevention fund to include aggravated robberies.
Patel, 34, was fatally stabbed last week following an alleged aggravated robbery at the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham. His funeral took place on Sunday.
Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal at the scene of the fatal stabbing attack. Photo / Jed Bradley
Chadwick Rd Foodmarket owner Hemond Deo said he had chosen to close his store today to show respect to “a young man who has lost his life while he was working”.
“All these crime rates are getting higher and higher for us dairy owners,” Deo said.
“It has to be stopped somewhere. I don’t know how.”
Saed Rajput has owned the business, Ōmokoroa Minimart and Takeaways, since July last year. Photo / Mead Norton
When the Bay of Plenty Times spoke to Ōmokoroa Minimart and Takeaways owner Saed Rajput he said he had not heard about the vigil but he could remember clearly the moment he read the news of Patel’s stabbing as he was closing up his shop last week.
“It was very shocking.”
Rajput’s own business has been burgled twice before being ram raided in April.
“I work by myself in my shop and I’m always scared,“ Rajput said.
“What if someone comes in to threaten me or try to hurt me? These questions are always in the back of my mind.”
“As immigrants we come to New Zealand and we don’t expect these things to happen. But these crimes keep happening and it’s frustrating.”
Rajput said he wanted the Government to prioritise everyone’s safety with stricter laws to curb offending.
“People are losing their lives. It’s not acceptable.”
Flowers and tributes outside the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham where shop worker Janek Patel died on Wednesday night in an alleged armed robbery. Photo / George Block
Central Parade Superette & Sushi owner Charangit Singh said he had heard about the vigil but it was too late to participate, having already made fresh food that needed to be sold.
“My friends in Auckland are scared. They’re selling their businesses and moving to Australia.
“They’re saying crime is too bad now in New Zealand.”
National leader Chris Luxon announcing his boot camp policy. Photo / NZME
Speaking to media in Tauranga, National leader Christopher Luxon said he had visited the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham to pay respects to Patel and also attended a vigil in Hamilton yesterday.
Luxon said there was “immense frustration” among victims of ram raids and aggravated burglaries because “the Government is not backing them” or being tough enough on serious repeat offenders.
Asked about what a national-led Government would do to address the problems, Luxon said introducing the young-offender military academy it proposed last week would act as a “powerful circuit breaker”.
He described it as a consequence that would end up “turning their life around”.
Dairy and Business Owners Group chair Sunny Kaushal asked dairies to consider closing on Monday during the busy lunch hours to pay respect to Patel and others who had been killed, injured or robbed.
“We need to send a strong message out to the Government that enough is enough.”
Kaushal said he had asked dairy owners and workers to keep their actions respectful and dignified but it was important to let the Government know “we are unhappy”.
“Our safety is very, very important. We need to feel safer. It is our fundamental right to be safe,” Kaushal said.
“We are proud Kiwis, proud New Zealanders and we want to be able to continue to look after our whanau and serve our communities.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said while youth crime was much lower than in the past, the risks and harm from ram raids and other retail crime was “concerning communities and creating victims”.
“Shop owners and workers feel targeted. That’s unacceptable.”
Ardern said the new initiatives made the “most significant crime prevention financial package in recent memory”.
The Government will also establish a new fog cannon subsidy scheme open to all small shops and dairies in New Zealand that want a fog cannon installed. Funding of $4000 will be available for each shop that will be able to have the fog cannon installed through an approved supplier.
Police Minister Chris Hipkins said this will be the first time the fog cannon and ram raid funds have operated at the same time.
An extra 455 fog cannons were expected to arrive before Christmas, he said.
“This adds to the 270 fog cannons that are currently in the country and have been allocated to affected shops.”
