Monday, 12 February 2007 - 4:54pm |
National News

Police response detailed

2 min read

At least six Police units arrived in Glendowie in response to calls from members of the public about disorderly behaviour shortly before 3am on Sunday.

One man, a Mt Taylor Drive resident who says he was attacked by youths tagging and damaging his property, was one of 10 callers concerned for the safety of themselves or their property. Most of the other calls came from residents in nearby Crossfield Rd.

The first calls - three simultaneously - were received by the Northern Communications Centre at 2.47am. All of these were from residents in Crossfield Rd.

The fourth call was received at 2.48am from a woman in Mt Taylor Drive who informed Police some men were beating eachother. She was on the 'phone to Police for some time, during which at least six Police units were dispatched to and arrived at Crossfield Rd. The first unit arrived at 2.59am.

The Mt Taylor Drive complainant advised North Comms staff at 2.50am that no medical assistance was required for the man from her property and further advised - at 2.58 - that the offenders could no longer be seen and had moved off to neighbouring Crossfield Rd.

At 3.07am, Police apprehended three young women in Crossfield Rd and were attempting to arrest a fourth offender when they came under attack and called for back-up. Five more units arrived in the street between 3.11 and 3.33am.

"If there's been any breakdown in service from Police to the man and his family who've been in touch with some media, it was in our failure to contact them immediately after the event to reassure them arrests had been made," Auckland City District Commander Detective Superintendent Gavin Jones said.

"However, there was no lack of service to the residents of Glendowie on the night and the staff who attended the disturbance - that had moved from its Mt Taylor Drive beginnings to Crossfield Rd - did their best to quell disorderly behaviour and apprehend the offenders.

"It's unfortunate but understandable that publicity about the incident has been misleading and we've done our best to reassure those who were targetted by offenders on the night by informing them of the actions taken by Police, taking their statements and generating further inquiries."

ENDS - Issued by Noreen Hegarty, Communications Manager, Auckland City Police