ON THE BEAT September'09

courtesy Eastern Courier and Howick Police

23-Sep-09

The police in Counties Manukau East attended about 2550 domestic incidents in the past 12 months, which is about seven for every day of the week, 365 days of the year.

About 30 percent of these are families police will visit three or more times.

It is internationally accepted that only around 20 to 25 percent of domestic abuse is ever reported to the police.

Our emphasis is on reducing repeat victimisation and offending. The police cannot do this alone and three broad strategies exist.

The first is the arrest of perpetrators where there is enough evidence to support a prosecution. The arrest process has the best chance of preventing repeat offending and is the standard approach in dealing with all family violence incidents.

The second is the dedicated District Family Violence Court, which as well as holding perpetrators accountable for their actions, attempts wherever possible to address the underlying causes.

The third is working collaboratively with partner agencies in a process called FVIARs, Family Violence Inter-Agency Response System. Members represent a cross section of our community and come from government and non-government organisations.

This group is motivated, resourceful, dedicated and works tirelessly towards helping families address the issues that manifest themselves in domestic abuse. Their efforts are appreciated by police but more importantly the families they have helped.

Making the offender accountable, hearing the matter in a specialty court, coupled with support for the victim is the most effective weapon police have against long-term offending.

If you are a victim or a perpetrator seek help early. It is only a matter of time before events go past the point of no return and irreversible harm is done to yourself, your partner and your children.

Victims can contact Women’s Refuge on 378-1893, Victim Support 0800-842-846.

Perpetrators can contact me confidentially on 538-0343.

Sergeant Brett Woodmass, domestic violence co-ordinator

11-Sep-09

I have recently started as the Howick community constable and have spent the last two weeks meeting and greeting people in the area and patrolling the streets.

I have spent some time outside schools in the Howick region and have been disappointed with the amount of vehicles that are illegally parked when dropping off and picking up their children from school.

Clearway zones, broken yellow lines and bus stops are strategically placed to ensure the safety of the children attending school.

A number of tickets have been issued to the offending vehicles and this will continue until the message gets through.

The excuse of "I'm running late" will not work. The safety of the children must and will come first.

There has been a number of fences tagged recently also. To help combat this issue please report this to us so we know when this is happening.

Parents, please know where your kids are going at night and check what is in their bags when they leave the house. Spray cans and marker pens are the tools of a tagger.

There is no good reason that these items should be in their bags.

It is also a great idea to know who your neighbours are so as a group you can all help keep an eye on the area you live in.

Do you have a Neighbourhood Support group operating in your street? If not, why not get one started?

For more information on this visit www.nsupport.co.nz

There have been reports of disorder from parties and gatherings in local car parks and reserves over the weekends.

If you have any issues with noise please contact Manukau City Council on 2625104.

For any other matters or concerns for disorderly behaviour or emergencies please call 111.

Constable Pat Hellier, Howick Community Constable.

02-Sep-09

This morning I spent some time at the pedestrian crossing on Prince Regent Drive monitoring both the pedestrians crossing at the crossing, and the vehicles passing by.

The teacher on duty made interesting comments about how the motoring public modify their behaviour when they see a police officer standing at the crossing.

This is a comment echoed by most teachers or parent supervisors of school traffic safety teams and is a sad commentary on drivers in New Zealand.

It's interesting that in the absence of a highly visible police officer, drivers are more prepared to drive faster and less prepared to leave gaps in the traffic so the students can get their "signs out".

I wondered if this was because drivers consider their own journey to be more important than the safety of kids walking to school?

I want to say a big thank you and well done to those parents who organise and supervise the walking school bus.

Walking buses have many advantages over parents driving kids to school in cars.

For example, kids get some exercise and there's less traffic clogging up our local roads - which in turn leads to less pollution clogging up our lungs.

I would encourage every primary school to promote the walking school bus concept with parents.

While I was at the crossing I was approached by a resident seeking clarification on the give way rule.

He commented that he frequently encountered drivers who failed to give way to him, and then blamed him for failing to give way to them!

The law is clear: If turning, give way to traffic not turning. In all other situations, give way to traffic crossing or approaching from your right.

If you're not sure (you probably shouldn't be driving) you can go to http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/roadcode/about-driving/the-give-way-rules.html for clarification

Sergeant Keith Olsen, Howick Youth and Community Services

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