Tūrangi community constable John Malpass chats with local resident Jamie Tahau. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Tūrangi community constable John Malpass chats with local resident Jamie Tahau. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Kia ora kōutōu. The past week in town has been pretty good. I reckon it's a neat time to be part of this community. There's a lot of people doing good mahi behind the scenes, so a big shout out goes to them. There are also some local residents workingon some exciting developments for this town - it'll be interesting to see how that all unfolds.
Unfortunately, cars continue to be targeted by some idiots who think it's okay to damage or even take someone's pride and joy. Now is a good time to remind everyone to lock their vehicle and make sure valuables aren't left in plain sight.
Some of our youth are occupying themselves with less-than-desirable activities. We are aware of our main culprits and are proactively working with them their whānau and our partners to prevent further issues.
We are lucky in Tūrangi to have a great, tight-knit community. So, if you see something that is out of place, please let us know so we can do something about it. I am aware of some frustrations with some going to social media often only knowing part of the problem. It's hard for police to comment on social media about specific cases due to privacy and our ongoing investigations but we do monitor most media outlets. Let's work together - the Police motto is "safer communities together."
There has been a noticeable increase in out of towners coming to Tūrangi for a break. We should welcome them here because it's a great boost to our businesses after Covid. Traffic will undoubtedly increase coming up to the school holidays so be safe on the roads, be patient and be kind to one another.
Tūrangi Police community constable John Malpas. Photo / Supplied
Finally, June 19, 2020, was a tragic day for us all with one of our fellow officers Matthew Hunt shot dead in Henderson, Auckland. Matthew and his partner were doing what every front line officer does every day, carrying out a routine traffic stop. Our thoughts are with Matthew's family, the second constable and his family but also our larger Police whānau in the Waitematä district – this is a situation we never want to face.
