Around 50 people attended a community safety meeting at New Lynn Community Centre.
Organised by Whau Ward Councillor Kerrin Leoni and Whau Local Board, the meeting was held to discuss the proactive security initiatives being undertaken by various groups in the community, and the next steps to improving feelings of safety.
If you see something, say something – reporting instances of safety concerns as soon as they happen is vital for improving safety and security in our community.
Encouraging the public to actively report any observations of safety concerns while protecting their own safety, rather than just being a bystander or hoping that someone else will report it, was the key takeaway from a recent meeting to discuss community safety.
Councillor Leoni says that everyone has a role to play in improving safety in the community.
“Everyone in the community has been concerned by the recent increase of incidents at our transport hubs. While the actions of the authorities to date have been really reassuring, we need a longer term, collaborative approach to making our communities safe for everyone.”
Whau Local Board Chair Kay Thomas agrees.
“The board is pleased to see active participation from agencies and members of the community in discussing safety issues.
“We look forward to the ongoing collaboration between Police and other agencies to tackle this issue, and were really pleased to see so many people wanted to come along and find out more about the next steps.”
Following the meeting Chair Thomas, Local Board Member Warren Piper and key local board staff met with Waitematā Area Commander, Jason Edwards, to look at longer term initiatives for improving safety in New Lynn.
Police encouraged people who are frequently exposed to instances of unsafe behaviour, such as shop owners, to avoid bulk reporting and instead report each incident as they happen.
Police reminded attendees that they don’t monitor social media and to use the appropriate channel to report incidents – dial 111 for emergencies, or 105 for Police non-emergencies.
Also discussed was schools working with Police to notify them of issues when they are made aware of them, and school staff patrolling areas to assist with security efforts.
Auckland One Rail stated that their West Security Patrol teams will remain. Utilising the train networks and their patrol vehicles has made the train patrols much more mobile and with better capability to attend incidences on the rail network.
Train platforms are equipped with orange stands. If police have already been notified and urgent assistance is required, pressing the button sends an alert to the control centre and all security agencies, including Police, can access the surveillance cameras.
Emergency alarms can also be found on the train carriages.
The meeting was attended by community members, List MP Deborah Russell, MP Paula Garcia’s delegate, and representatives from stakeholder organisations including Auckland Transport, Auckland One Rail, New Zealand Police, Whau Local Board, Whau Ethnic Collective and Whau Youth Board.
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