Policing demands in quake-struck Canterbury are changing every day.

 

Initially, our concerns were with the immediate safety and security of the public.

 

Christchurch police were quick to collaborate with the city council and other agencies to coordinate response efforts. Access to the worst-hit section of the city centre was restricted with a police cordon to protect people from the risk of falling debris and to ensure emergency teams could go about their work without impediment.

 

Meanwhile in Wellington, the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in the Beehive was activated on Saturday morning, following procedures which have been well planned and practiced.

 

Representatives from government agencies met there to share information on the event and coordinate the response. Alongside Police were managers from the Ministries of Transport, Health, Education, Social Development and Economic Development as well as Treasury, the Earthquake Commission and GNS.

 

While our emergency response swung into action, normal policing services had to be maintained. Our numbers were boosted by staff on leave who turned up to work, Defence Force personnel and Police staff from around New Zealand.

 

Early fears of looting did not amount to much - in fact provisional data showed burglaries decreased by 11 percent in comparison with the same time last year.

 

However reports of family violence have shot up, and are predicted to stay high as families cope with enormous stress and uncertainty. 

 

This wasn't a tragedy in the traditional sense - astonishingly, no lives were lost - but more and more personal tragedies emerge each day.

 

Although police are trained to cope with extraordinary circumstances, adrenaline can only take them so far. I understand more than 20 of our staff have lost their homes. They, along with thousands of Cantabrians, have a hard road ahead to recovery.