Measures to tackle retail crime do not go far enough, Whanganui shopkeepers say

The Government and New Zealand Police announced plans to tackle a rise in retail crime. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui shop owners say the announced plans to tackle retail crime and reoffending were a good start, but aren’t enough to solve the problems they are facing.

The multimillion-dollar package will include a new fog cannon subsidy scheme to provide $4000 for all small shops and dairies who want them installed.

As well as this, a new $4 million fund to support local councils in Auckland, Hamilton and the Bay of Plenty with crime prevention programmes was announced, and eligibility for the Retail Crime Prevention fund was expanded to include aggravated robberies.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was the most significant crime prevention package in recent memory, and while ram-raids were down by 83 per cent in November compared to their peak in August, shopkeepers felt targeted, which was unacceptable.

According to publicly available police data, the number of victims of crimes in retail stores, service stations, and pharmacies in Whanganui has steadily increased over recent years, outside of two major dips in early 2020 and mid-2021 due to Covid-19 lockdowns.

Ashwin Patel, owner of the Eastside Dairy, said the announcements were a good starting place, but more was needed for it to be effective.

“I think the announcement’s good, but they need to do more around tightening the justice system,” he said.

Specifically, he said people perpetrating crimes needed harsher punishment.

“We can put fog cannons in and do all sorts, but if there’s no punishment or any decent consequences on the other end then I reckon it’s still gonna keep happening.”

He also questioned how effective the measures would be for the Whanganui region specifically, as it appeared most of the funding would be for shop owners in Auckland, Hamilton, and the Bay of Plenty.

“I don’t know if it really affects us or if we’ll get to see any of that,” Patel said.

Harpreet Singh, owner of Blackbull Liquor Whanganui, said this year had been the worst in recent memory for him in terms of crime, and the Government needed to do more to protect business owners.

“We’ve made a lot of claims and we’ve done a lot of reporting to the cops, but we’ve hardly had any outcome,” he said.

While his stores have not been ram-raided as of yet, he said they suffer from a lot of shoplifting.

“We had people grab things and run out - we provided the [security] footage to cops and made complaints, but we haven’t heard anything back regarding anything.”

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster also announced police will have increased presence and visibility in areas experiencing the most harm from serious retail crime, and would broaden a gang-focused operation - Operation Cobalt - to intensify efforts to target prolific offenders.

To address broader issues, police are supporting partner government agencies as they work to address the drivers of serious offending.

Coster also said police will be making revisions to the fleeing driver policy next year, following engagements with staff and stakeholders.