Wednesday, 3 May 2023 - 10:18am

New 'eyes and ears' in city's east

2 min read

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Jazz Corban and Candice Upperton standing next to a community patrol vehicle.

Hamilton’s eastern suburbs will now have extra eyes and ears on the streets with the creation of a new Community Patrol.

The volunteer-led patrol was launched at Hamilton East Police station on Thursday, 27 April to service the eastern suburbs of the city, from Hamilton East, through Hillcrest to Tamahere and Matangi.

It has been set up by Jasmine Corban and Candice Upperton, former police officers and Hamilton mothers. The pair, who live in the Tamahere area, saw an opportunity to set up a patrol in the city’s east and worked closely with Police, local businesses and Community Patrols NZ (CPNZ) to fund a vehicle and seek volunteers.

There are already 14 people signed up as patrollers, working in partnership with local police to prevent crime and make the community safer.

Hamilton already has CPNZ patrols in the north, west, and south, and this addition aligns with Hamilton’s quadrant model of prevention policing, says Hamilton Area Commander, Inspector Andrea McBeth.

“Jasmine and Candice have done an amazing job in setting this up," says Andrea.

"They are self-motivated and passionate about their communities – they saw a need and they worked hard to get the financing and arrange for this additional patrol for our city.

“Our CPNZ patrollers are the eyes and ears on the street and support us in a number of policing roles – they assist us in detecting offences in high-crime and the at-risk areas that we police. They also have supporting roles that allow our police officers to have faster response times to other incidents.

“This addition of an eastern patrol for the city gives is further support for police to deliver our services.”

After several dishonesty offences in the eastern suburbs last year, the pair decided to take action. They worked for 10 months to get the new patrol up and running.

“Police can’t be everywhere all the time and as a community we need to work together to stop crime and give a community response,” Jasmine said.

“It’s the basic things that make a difference, like looking after your neighbours, sharing information, when to call 111 or do an online report, security advice when going on holiday.

“The aim is to assist police, report suspicious behaviour and vehicles. We can also give prevention advice to members of the community and help educate people on how to do online reports and share safety information with other agencies like the council.”

All CPNZ volunteers are vetted and undertake training before working a patrol roster suited to the availability of patrollers.

They work closely with local police, receiving police briefings and attending line-ups before commencing a shift, and receive real-time information during patrols, Hamilton City Prevention Team Sergeant Maree Fouhy said.

Maree works closely with the Hamilton CPNZ patrollers, running annual training sessions for groups in the city and across the district.

“Police demand is high - having those CPNZ groups out and about patrolling their own communities helps with public reassurance. They provide the vital link to real-time information and can assist in freeing up staff to perform more pressing incidents.”

CPNZ is always looking for volunteers. You can find more information here.