Tēnā koutou katoa. Our staff have been kept busy over the last week. Unfortunately we have seen a spike in burglaries and stolen vehicles in the last two weeks. The good news is that we have identified a number of these offenders and they are now before the court or have been referred to our Youth Aid Section.
Our Youth Aid Section work alongside whānau and our partner agencies to ensure that we keep these youngsters on the right track and not falling into the criminal justice system. Prevention is better than a cure, as we all know.
Some of these young ones have been responsible for a large amount of the crime across both Taupō and Tūrangi. The weekend saw four of them lead police on a pursuit where they were finally stopped after road spikes were deployed. The driver was found to not be old enough to hold a driver's licence. His actions, and those of his cohorts are putting themselves at risk, as well as our community and my staff. These kids should have been at home and under the supervision of whānau.
Parents and caregivers need to know where their children are. If they are staying overnight at friends, then make the call to ensure that is correct. All too often police have to visit families and have conversations with whānau after their children have been located up to no good, with the parents believing they were somewhere else. And in the worst cases, we have to advise families that these young ones have been injured or killed.
