Subj : South Auckland business owners vent at Police Minister over crime
To   : All
From : News
Date : Wed Jun 12 2024 01:28 pm

By Finn Blackwell, of RNZ
Tuesday 10:00pm

South Auckland business owners who say they're dealing with crime on a daily
basis vented their frustrations at Police Minister Mark Mitchell today.


Mitchell held a community meeting which was standing room only for residents
and retailers such was the interest. He also visited shops in Manurewa to
hear what residents and shop owners were going through.


Many told him how bad crime had become in the neighbourhood. They called for
extra officers on the ground and harsher penalties for offenders.


The first stop for the minister was Apna Spice and Grocery Store, where
Raghbir Singh and Sarvjud Kaur said they had been treated with flagrant
disrespect by shoplifters.


"[Thefts] happen every day, what do we do ... even the small kids, the
four-five kids come in, they're touching everything, they take it and walk
out," Singh said.


Kaur told the minister what they saw.


"They are coming in as groups, like six, seven people, some are here [at the
counter], I'm here and I'm attending to people, and they're stealing from the
back side [of the store]."


The minister tried to reassure them.


"We're working as hard and as fast as we can to free up our police, to get
them back out there, to partner with local government and with community
groups and things like that, because central government can't fix these
societal problems by themselves. It's definitely a joined-up effort," he said.


The minister addressed a crowd of more than 100 frustrated residents and
business owners last week at a public meeting in the central city.

They told him they didn't feel safe and wanted to see more police officers on
the street.


It was a similar mood on Tuesday.


Mitchell said the government was serious about cracking down on crime.


He asked business owners to tell him what their priorities were.


Raewyn Bhana who has worked in the community for 37 years owns multiple
businesses.


She said she was worried for the safety of her employees, especially since
some offenders were armed with machetes.


"I'm always saying to staff 'use the duress button, ring the police,' because
I don't know if they've got guns, I don't know if they've got knives, so I
worry about the safety our staff."


Sukhpal Singh said rough sleepers had become an issue outside his restaurant.


"The man drinking alcohol and having food just [at the] main entrance of my
restaurant, I asked him to move and he showed me the knife, he said get
inside... so I try just get inside."


Mitchell said tackling crime was a government priority, but it was not going
to be easy.


"It's a complicated situation that involves emergency housing, social
housing, the rough-sleepers, increased police presence, having consequences
around offending," he said.

"There's a whole lot of things we need to do and get lined up and get right,
to start making really big, meaningful change."


rnz.co.nz

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