Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell Photo: Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
CCTV cameras and more police on the streets are expensive but are worth every cent being spent, Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell says.
Rotorua has seen a rapid reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour in the CBD over the past six months.
The mayor credits a community safety hub that draws together resources including the police, council, Māori wardens, private security and community safety volunteers.
Compared with the same six-month period in the previous year this year violent offences alone are down 26 percent.
Tapsell said the use of CCTV cameras did not come cheap and combined with the employment of security guards and the establishment of the community hub the council had spent over $1 million.
She was unequivocal that it was money well spent.
"Community safety and making sure that not only our locals and our businesses but also our visitors are safe is of utmost priority. We take it really seriously."
The city had approached both the previous and current police ministers for financial help, however, Rotorua was funding the initiative itself in the meantime.
She had sent more "strongly worded letters" to ministers asking for government funding, and was hoping $300,000 would be provided.
In the meantime what had been achieved already in the inner city was "absolutely fantastic".
"What we did is we worked together with police and we put the presence right in the city.
"Fortunately we saw results but the golden edge was working together and we've done that really efficiently."
The police had been able to get another community constable joining other officers on the streets and "visible".
Tapsell believed this had had an impact on property damage offences which had dropped by 37 percent.
"We are seeing benefits of this investment in our community."
Other successes included: drug and anti-social offences (down 24 percent); dishonesty crimes (14 percent) and trespass offences (reduced by 39 percent).
"So it's been really positive overall but this is just the start though."
CCTV 'valuable tool'
The installation of CCTV had enabled officers to respond and get to crime scenes quickly.
"It's been incredible ... CCTV cameras are one of the most valuable tools for cities to be able to use ... when we have had the unfortunate case of a few ram raids we caught those people within 24 hours in multiple cases so they really do work."
Both the police and council had cameras installed, both had staff involved with monitoring them and both worked together so officers could respond quickly.
So are there lessons for other cities battling an onslaught of retail crime and anti-social behaviour, she was asked.
Rotorua did not have the level of crime being experienced in Auckland and Hamilton, however, the city didn't want any, hence its hardline approach.
"If you want to come to Rotorua and commit crime you will get caught," was Tapsell's warning to potential offenders.
However, Tapsell said she was concerned the NZ Transport Agency might stop sharing CCTV cameras with the council due to privacy concerns and if that happened it would be a serious deterrent to tracking crime.
