Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua needs more police because it is dealing with increased demand from people staying in emergency housing, the city's mayor says.
It comes as new Department of Corrections figures reveal there were 35 people staying in Rotorua emergency housing motels in September who were carrying out community-based court sentences.
The figure includes those on sentences such as home detention and supervision but does not include paroled offenders or those on bail.
Mayor Tania Tapsell's call comes amid a Rotorua Daily Post series called Fighting for Rotorua, which is looking into the city's housing crisis, the motel misery and what can be done to make it better
The call has also been backed by Glenholme resident Christopher Turner, who was among the hundreds of people to give evidence at a recent resource consent hearing on the future of Rotorua's contracted emergency housing motels. His submission highlighted locals' fears for their safety.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said Rotorua specifically needed more police this weekend after reports there could be up to 150 patched members from two gangs converging on the city during an already busy weekend with events.
Police Minister Chris Hipkins said Rotorua had been given 20 extra police in the last four years and Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said it was possible Rotorua could get more as new recruits graduated.
Tapsell told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend the social cost of emergency housing had been "immeasurably significant" and called on the Government to provide greater police resourcing to help deal with crime in these areas.
Waikato Bay of Plenty Police Association regional director Scott Thompson said while the 20 were appreciated, the number was "out of kilter" with the rise in police workload exacerbated by the influx of people in the motels - many from outside Rotorua.
Thompson said those in emergency housing, through no fault of their own, were often high users of social services. He said police were often the first service called for help.
He said police were picking up the workload of already stretched services such as hospitals and mental health workers - and service demand had risen "exponentially", especially relating to mental health-related callouts and family harm.
"For the frontline staff who worked right through Covid ... they are fatigued and there is no let-up in the demand for service."
A police heat map revealed by retired former police boss Gary Smith in the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend in September showed the number of calls for police service had risen dramatically in emergency housing areas between 2018 and 2021.
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Thompson said while there had never been more police in New Zealand, the extra staff and demand had risen "out of kilter".
But he said it was "a difficult one" because every region in New Zealand would argue they needed more police.
He said while some Glenholme residents might feel unsafe and want more police, those who had lost loved ones in a recent rise in road deaths in the Eastern Bay could also argue there should be more road policing staff in their area.
"Where are extra staff going to come from and who will miss out?"
Instead of asking for more police staff, society needed to "lift its game" and change the mindset that it was everyone else's problem.
"We need to change our attitudes towards buying stolen property, backhanding our partner and allowing people ... to ride around without helmets like idiots on trail bikes.
"Police are the first cabs off the rank but there are other cabs sitting behind and maybe they can say this is not something we should be allowing to happen."
McClay said he had been told a number of gang events were taking place from Murupara and Tauranga to Rotorua which would mean up to 150 additional patched gang members could be in the city this weekend, putting further pressure on already-stretched local police.
''These increased gang numbers are extremely worrying," he said.
He said local police were doing an "exceptional job", however he was worried they wouldn't be able to cope with Crankworx in full swing and the Six60 concert tonight. SATURDAY
"Local people deserve to feel safe and be free from intimidation. I'm extremely concerned that gang tension could spill over this weekend, meaning members of the public are at risk or the police themselves are caught short."
Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Tim Anderson. Photo / Andrew Warner
In response, Anderson said police monitored events and deployed staff to meet the demand. This can include staff moving within the district and on occasion, travelling in from outside the Bay of Plenty district.
He wouldn't disclose police numbers for operational reasons.
"With specific regard to gang travel, our gang liaison officers maintain communications with gangs in our district and work with them to reduce the impact on our communities for events that involve gang travel that originates in our district. Police monitor gang travel and take enforcement action where necessary."
He said this weekend's gang events were passing through the Rotorua area rather than originating or "terminating" in the district.
"Rotorua police are aware of the travel and have staff in place to monitor their transit through Rotorua and take action where necessary."
When asked if he would lobby for Rotorua to have more police given the emergency housing situation, Anderson said while resources had not been allocated to Rotorua specifically for that purpose, it had been given 20 extra staff since 2018.
He said another two staff would join the ranks this year and there was an expectation more would continue to be added as new recruits graduated.
"We will continue to deploy our staff to the locations where our communities need us."
The Rotorua Daily Post Weekend requested total police numbers in Rotorua each year for the last five years but was not given it for operational reasons. An Official Information Act request has been made.
The New Zealand Police's latest annual report shows there were 670 sworn and 90 non-sworn full-time and part-time police staff in the Bay of Plenty in 2017, compared with 770 and 84 respectively as of June 2022.
When asked if Rotorua had done it hard in recent years, Anderson said local police responded to a "significant volume of callouts" for a variety of offences, particularly in areas of family harm and mental health.
"Living in emergency accommodation presents its own challenges. Our role as police is to ensure everyone in our community is safe and feels safe but we cannot do it alone.
"We have strong relationships with partner agencies and there is some great work being done by social service providers to support our most vulnerable residents."
Hipkins said the Government was funding more police in Rotorua and throughout the country.
"We have a goal of 1800 more police, of which we've funded over 1600 so far. We expect to fund the full 1800, over and above attrition, by June next year."
Police Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Hipkins said police decided where new officers went.
"If more police were required they are able to redeploy from elsewhere in the district, but that's a decision for them."
Watchdog Security chief executive Brett Wilson said in his recent submission relating to the future of the 13 contracted emergency housing motels that it was his opinion police had become more stretched since more homeless people started living in motels.
Watchdog Security chief executive officer Brett Wilson. Photo / Andrew Warner
"It has been very noticeable that since the emergency housing model has grown, the availability of the police to respond to incidents of crime in the city, such as shoplifting, disorder etc, has significantly reduced," Wilson's submission said.
Wilson's submission included a parliamentary question from McClay asking how many people were on probation living in emergency housing motels.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis responded, saying emergency accommodation at motels was used as a last option because the alternative was homeless people.
He said an Integrated Offender Management System report showed there were 35 people on community-based sentences and orders living in emergency housing in Rotorua as of September 15.
The Rotorua Daily Post has made an Official Information Act request for the number of paroled offenders living in emergency or transitional housing in Rotorua.
