Family violence remains a high priority for police in Counties Manukau. It accounts for 42% of all immediate calls for service in the District and is a major factor in the 11.8% rise in reported crime.
Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Steve Shortland said the increasing calls for service were a good indication that family violence is no longer accepted in the community. However, he said meeting that demand is a challenge and impacts on the District's proactive capability.
"We are working in a number of areas to manage that demand and reduce family violence which will ultimately free up a portion of our priority one response capability."
This includes the local establishment of family violence co-ordinators in the four police areas in Counties Manukau. The co-ordinators monitor the family violence files, ensure procedure has been followed and the relevant support mechanisms have been put in place for the victim.
Another initiative centres on a pilot project being trialled out of the Manurewa station called DVRS (Domestic Violence Response Service), which focuses on the victim. This project is a joint venture between SAFVPN, Counselling services, Victim Support, Women's refuge and the police Family Violence co-ordinator. It aims at reducing domestic violence and targeting repeat victims. They look to provide long term wrap-around support, ultimately reducing victimisation and repeat offending.
Superintendent Shortland said there is a focus on repeat family violence in the home (which accounted for 31% of all family violence) and police were aware of the impact of family violence upon all victims.
In 2001 Family Violence accounted for 21% of the District's calls for emergency response. This figure rose to 42% in 2005. In 2005, Counties Manukau Police attended 5947 Priority 1 family violence incidents with another 4,000 coming to police attention other than by way of emergency calls.
Superintendent Shortland said with police attendance at a domestic violence incident averaging 59 minutes, it is even more critical that we successfully tackle this priority issue so that we are able to improve our response to other demands for our service.
"Reported family violence in Counties Manukau is far greater than any other place in the country and constantly provides challenges for us in meeting those needs."
"In this District, we see the downstream effects of inter-generational family violence in the form of high truancy and youth offending rates, assaults and anti-social behaviour."
Violent offending increased 17.3%, (5700 to 6700) with some of the additional offences being attributable to family violence as well as youth gang incidents in late 2005. At the time Police worked quickly to quell the youth gang violence in Otara with the arrest of 35 individuals on a variety of serious assault charges relating to street gang activity.
"We have a successful proactive youth at risk project in Mangere which works with those who commit lower end offences and aims to turn them around before they go onto to commit more serious crimes. Last year the programme worked with 94 youth offenders, 72 have not re-offended. The youth are monitored to ensure they attend school, receive extra tuition or are employed and in some cases receive drug and alcohol counselling. The project is based on a multi-agency approach involving CYFS, health, education, housing and police."
Police are committed to working with partner agencies such as Ministry of Social Development in developing strategies to reduce youth offending and ensure less young people in Counties Manukau join gangs and commit crime.
Superintendent Shortland said that 2005 saw police working harder with a large increase in the number of persons arrested in Counties Manukau. There was a 26% increase in the number of individuals arrested (8152 in 2004 rising to 10,297 in 2005). Police laid 11,362 charges in 2004 and 14,680 in 2005. (see attached graph)
"An increase in the number of arrests also impacts upon the ability of Police to patrol, respond and investigate given the time it takes to process prisoners, particularly when the District's custodial facility is located at Papakura, and prepare the paperwork for Court. These pressures should be alleviated to some extent when the District's new custodial facility at Manukau opens early in 2007."
He said a trial project is being run at the Manurewa Police Station which is aimed at relieving frontline police of the paperwork burden and a way of getting officers back onto the frontline as soon as possible after making an arrest.
Superintendent Shortland said one of the major concerns for police in Counties Manukau was the rise in vehicle crime. He said stealing cars and stealing from cars was a major issue and had contributed to the 10.1% increase in dishonesty offences. The main trouble spots in the District are shopping centres, carparks, Middlemore Hospital and the Manukau Polytechnic.
"There are two main methods Police are deploying in an effort to reduce vehicle crime. The first is enforcement, which involves the active targeting of known offenders. Counties Manukau Police recently completed a month long operation targeting 149 persons wanted in connection with vehicle crime in the District as a result 121 people were arrested and 415 crimes resolved. The second method is prevention which involves encouraging car owners and those who own or administer car parks, to take more responsibility for property security."
"Crime hotspots are identified and fed into our intelligence systems which then highlight to police patrols where the areas of concern are and where to concentrate their patrol time during their shift."
"We have successfully worked with business owners to reduce crime by identifying and rectifying the factors they can control such as security and lighting and generally target hardening the crime hotspot."
A small shopping complex in Manukau City was being targeted by car thieves. The business owner worked with police to identify when the theft was occurring and identified ways the risk could be reduced. This included crime prevention signage, effective deployment of security staff and clearing the vegetation which acted as a cover for thieves. As a result the theft stopped and the business owner and his customers are no longer victims.
Superintendent Shortland said police in Counties Manukau were well aware of the need to proactively target criminals and criminal activity but policing was often a business of conflicting priorities.
"For example the Franklin and Papakura areas experienced a rise in burglary. The increase was largely as a result of the Area's proactive crime unit being diverted from their local policing role to dealing with a group who were breaking into homes between Tauranga and Whangaparaoa. Police spent 6 months dealing with the gang who specialised in breaking into the homes of elderly people, stealing their credit cards and then ringing up the victims to get their PIN numbers. This particular gang were apprehended and charged with committing 55 offences between Waikato and Whangaparaoa and the enquiry is still on-going."
Mr Shortland said the District looked forward to receiving more staff over the next three years in line with the Governments new initiatives. This would provide some welcome relief for police staff in the District who were doing a fantastic job despite being constantly stretched.