Napier police 'absolutely stretched to the limits' - Mayor

Napier's mayor fears police in her city are "stretched to the limit" and is crying out for more support.

This comes as an escalation of gang violence has hit Hawke's Bay.

Two men in their 20s have been charged over a shootout at a Napier bar in February - the biggest incident in a recent spate of gang violence across the region.

Mayor Kirsten Wise said she sent a letter to Police Minister Poto Williams to address her concerns.

"First and foremost I want to say I think that our local police are doing a fantastic job and working really, really hard to keep our community safe," Wise told RNZ.

"But what I'm hearing is that there's simply not enough of them and they're not able to respond as quickly as they would like and in the ways that they would like."

She said removing holding cells from Napier stretched the thin blue line even more.

If police apprehend someone in Napier, officers must travel to Hastings to lock them up.

"That takes two police officers off our streets to take the people [or] the person that's been apprehended across to Hastings, be processed in Hastings which I understand can take several hours," Wise said.

"From what I can see, my perception is they're absolutely stretched to the limits and we need additional support."

National Party caretaker MP for Hawke's Bay Louise Upston said she also wrote to Williams.

The party held a community meeting in Napier just over a week ago to address gang violence.

She said police officers were probably doing their best, but resourcing was the biggest problem.

"I've written to the Minister of Police, following the community meeting last week, to say that the people of Napier are very concerned about their safety in their streets and in their neighbourhood," she said.

"They want to see more police officers, they want to see a more visible police presence and they want faster and stronger action from the police officers."

Napier MP Stuart Nash, who also used to be the Minister of Police, said about 50 or 60 police were due to join the Eastern District in the next couple of years.

He said he had not heard that police were under stress in the region.

He maintained the problems in the city were largely around housing and that was not a policing problem but a "community problem".

The city has the highest social housing wait-list per capita in the country, with over 700 applicants on the housing register and many of them living in motels.

He insisted the government was trying to fix the housing issues.

"I'm not saying that the situation we find ourselves in is ideal, it isn't, but it's the least worst option of all those on the table at this point of time. But I do want to make clear to the people of Napier is that we are actively looking and working on solutions that will solve this problem."

RNZ asked police to comment on the concerns raised by the mayor.

In a statement, Eastern District commander Superintendent Jeanette Park said police could not solve the problems alone.

"Addressing the challenges of criminal activity and gang violence in Eastern District is a focus for police but it is not something we can do in isolation," she said.

"We need a co-ordinated response combining community development, prevention and law enforcement.

"Understanding and addressing the drivers of social harm is where police can support better outcomes for communities. Police have a strong focus on prevention through partnerships. We have good working relationships with both government and non-government service providers and continue to work closely with local communities, iwi and government agencies."

Police Minister Poto Williams said in a statement that Operation Tauwhiro, announced by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster last month, would help with the disruption of firearms and organised criminal gangs.

"Hawke's Bay area police and Eastern District staff are working hard to ensure that we meet the objectives of Operation Tauwhiro and hold transgressors to account."

Call for police on the street

Police Association president Chris Cahill said says the force should look at bringing back tactical units like the binned armed response units.

He told Morning Report having highly trained police available made beat officers feel confident and safe while out on the job.

He said there were multiple issues in Napier.

"Social housing certainly an issue," he said, adding that almost all motels were "so booked out with social housing, it's had a big impact".

"Moving the main base from Napier to Hastings, so having to travel there to process prisoners has had an effect as well. You've got staff out of Napier for long periods of time. And then it's just an increase in the calls for service whether it is family harm incidents, mental health, or the gangs - we're certainly seeing that big increase."

While acknowledging the government had brought in 1800 extra police, he said the numbers needed to increase and suggested more funding and recruitment drives.

"More police need to be put out on the street."

He said the force had managed to retain officers as a result of the pandemic which meant it was a good time for new recruits to learn from experienced staff.

How police deployed staff was imperative, he said, questioning if single-crewing was still appropriate.

"There's many occasions when it is too dangerous to have officers working alone."

He said the Armed Response Teams, which was rejected by the communities they were trialled in, "were badly communicated, it wasn't explained what they were doing".

Police were now working towards an option that would help the community and the safety of officers, he said.