Our View: Taking the fight to the street offenders

Any moves by Rotorua businesses, council, social services and police to stamp out fighting and other bad behaviour on our city's streets have to be applauded.
And not just because this is a tourist town.
According to the Ministry of Tourism there were an estimated 3.2 million visitor arrivals to Rotorua last year, visitors who collectively spent an estimated $551 million during their stay.
It is obviously vital for all our sakes that this lifeblood of our economy is not threatened by thugs and hoodlums driving visitors away, and that Rotorua's beauty is not just a facade, but a true picture of our city.
But it's also important that Rotorua residents feel happy to walk their city's streets without being knocked over by brawling youths like those in the videos mentioned in our report today.
It's important Rotorua residents aren't subjected to the excesses of others' public drunkenness and drug use.
It's important Rotorua residents feel pride in their city, and that pride is not dented by the sight of tagging and other vandalism.
The answer is not for The Daily Post to stop reporting on crime, as a few people have suggested. If that's the answer we're asking the wrong question.
The answer lies in the current and future positive actions of our city leaders - for example, the police stepping up beat patrols during periods of potential trouble like the school holidays, city businesses banding together to deal with crime and offensive behaviour, and the example reported in The Daily Post on Thursday of the Rotorua Youth Centre worker taking a dozen taggers under his wing to channel their energies into a mural as well as collecting for charity.
It may be a hidden problem for most of us, something many people never notice or have to deal with, but that doesn't mean nothing should be done about it.