John Tims
I am already enjoying the few long summery nights we had in Auckland.
Unfortunately, with the increase of outdoor meals and activities, parts of the house often get left forgotten and unsecured while the family is occupied outside.
It is important to ensure that all parts of your house are secured. Even if you are inside your house, please ensure that all doors and windows in other parts of the house are kept locked if you cannot see them.
Basic precautions
Thefts can occur when you are outside working in the garden, hanging out washing or even taking the rubbish bin to the gate. You should remember not to leave the garage and shed doors open unnecessarily because things like garden tools and lawnmowers can also easily go missing.
It takes only a few moments of inattention for someone to enter your property. There are a few simple things you can do to ensure you stay safe in your home. Please (a) Ensure that handbags, purses, wallets and car keys are kept out of sight in secure places (b) Keep look out for any suspicious activity around your home and (c) Keep watch your neighbours’ properties particularly if they are away.
Suspect arrested
Car keys, trailers and mobile phones are target items for thieves as we continuously receive reports from people. I want to emphasise the importance of calling 111 when you see any suspicious activity. Last month, a member of the public in Mangere called when he saw two men were not on a neighbouring property. A Police unit was quickly dispatched and one of the men was located nearby and arrested. He had previously been charged with burglary of the same address, and was breaching his bail conditions by being at the property.
It was great to be able to apprehend this burglar and prevent another burglary at this property or other properties in the area and we credit this to the vigilance of the member of the public who called 111. We always prefer to prevent crime before it occurs.
Family Violence
There was a month-long ‘White Ribbon’ campaign, which is an international movement to end violence towards women. We have joined with our community partners to increase awareness about family violence and encourage you to speak up if you know anything about someone who is being hurt.
On an ongoing basis, Police take a multi‐agency approach towards lowering levels of family violence by coordinating with our partners.
Our Family Violence team is working on a coordinated community campaign to reduce the number of incidents this summer alongside a number of our partner agencies.
Please look for more information regarding the campaign and activities within the Counties Manukau Police District.
Any kind of family violence ‐ physical, verbal or emotional – is unacceptable in our community and hence it should be reported to Police.
Family violence is an ongoing, year‐round issue that doesn’t discriminate by ethnicity or gender. If you know someone who is a victim of family violence, you can help by listening and being supportive, ensuring the person and any children are safe and finding out what help is available in the community.
You can also call Crime stoppers on 0800-555111 and leave anonymous but genuine information.
Drink Law Change
A new lower alcohol limit for adult drivers became effective on December 1, 2014.
From now on, we will be handing out information to drivers about the new lower limits at every checkpoint and to every driver that is stopped by Police.
The new lower limit is a significant opportunity for us to reduce the number of people killed on our roads and lessen the lifelong impact that drink driving has on families and in our communities.
It is great to see that many drivers are taking the new limits on board and moderating their behaviour by not having any alcoholic drinks at all before driving.
The new legislation lowers the adult breath alcohol limit from 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, to 250mcg. The blood alcohol limit will reduce from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (0.08), to 50mg (0.05). This means that adult drivers who commit an offence between 251‐400mcg of breath will face an infringement penalty of $200 and receive 50 demerit points.
Drivers who accumulate 100 or more demerit points from driving offences within two years will receive a three month driver licence suspension. For drivers under 20, the limit stays at zero.
Over the last 10 years, fatal crashes caused by drink‐driving have claimed the lives of around 1100 people and caused serious injuries to another 5300 persons.
We therefore ask that everyone continues to play their part to make the roads safer for all of us. Anyone caught drink driving and breaking the law can expect to face the full consequences.
Red Light Campaign
This month as a District we will be focusing on intersections with Auckland Transport’s November “Red Means Stop” Campaign. This operation is conducted throughout Auckland Metropolitan Police Area and the objective is to reduce the number of serious and fatal crashes at intersections.
Intersections can be deadly and we want you to stay safe on the road. Please remember the most simple of road rules – red means stop.
Do not put your life or that of anyone else at risk by making the dangerous decision to run a red light. Keep an eye out for us on the road this month.
On behalf of Counties Manukau Police, I wish you and your family Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Please remember that safety comes first.
John Tims is Superintendent of Police and Commander of the Counties Manukau District based in Manukau. Another article on issues of public interest and safety will appear in our next issue.
