Tūrangi Police: Family harm shows big jump in 2020

Most crime in the Tūrangi-Tongariro area was fairly steady last year but burglaries were up slightly and family harm spiked. Photo / File

Kia ora koutou. I've been having a look through our statistics for last year and comparing them to 2019 to see how we did in the Tūrangi-Tongariro area.

To summarise, last year we had 181 burglaries, up 30 on 2019, or roughly two and a bit a month more. However the number of stolen cars was steady (31 last year compared to 30 in 2019) and thefts from cars remained exactly the same at 22 recorded in each year.

The real jump was in family harm. In 2019 we recorded 301 family harm incidents and in 2020 this spiked to 408. What's noticeable is that many of these callouts were recorded during the weeks spent in lockdown, in April and early May. For many families, it was a stressful time and some people did not deal with it well which is reflected in these statistics. Other crimes such as burglaries were down over the lockdown period as not many people were out and about and those who were, were being stopped by police.

This is my first report for 2021 and I'm pleased to say so far most things have been reasonably quiet, with crime numbers across the board, including family harm, tracking lower than at the same time last year.

Across the wider Taupō district though there have been a lot of thefts from cars and in more than half these cases the vehicle in question had been left unlocked. To avoid this, leave your car in a safe place, remove any valuables and lock it, don't make it easy for people to steal your property.

Sergeant Te Reipa Morunga, Tūrangi Police. Photo / File

Over the New Year period we did have some "hot" areas, particularly Omori-Kuratau. I had an informal meeting with one of the residents from there earlier this week and we spoke about security, CCTV cameras and the police response going forward to help the community out there. We intend to keep forming those partnerships out in the Omori Kuratau area and engaging with and educating the people that come in over that busy summer time.

We've also been making regular trips out to Whanganui Bay to engage with the community there, which has an influx of extra people over the summer time. We are not down there just as police but as part of the community and working to keep our communication and partnership open. That way, if there are issues or concerns we can help, and so far this partnership is getting good results.

Being fully staffed again has really helped in this regard. We have two new members of our public safety team: Constables Dylan Sampson and Tess Logie who have both moved down from Tamaki Makaurau to join us, and our own Constable Sally Tai Rakena has taken up the family harm position.

However we did have some station issues again last week which meant the front door at the Tūrangi Police Station was closed during the day. We understand this causes frustration in our community. If you need to get us and the station is closed, there is an intercom button next to the front door that goes straight through to Rotorua and will be answered there. Otherwise you can call 105 or go online at 105.police.govt.nz to report non-urgent matters. If it is an emergency or happening now, call 111.

Kia pai tō wiki, Te Reipa.