Thirty-five people arrested in crime disruption operation across Waitemata

A major operation aimed at disrupting and preventing criminal activity has taken place today across the Waitemata police district.

Since 6am this morning, more than 80 Police officers in Waitakere, Rodney and the North Shore areas have been visiting and arresting people with outstanding warrants to arrest.

Thirty-five offenders have been arrested and will be appearing in courts across the Waitemata district this afternoon.

Their warrants have been for a variety of offences, ranging from serious assault to failing to appear in court and breach of bail.

Inspector Claire Humble, Waitemata Police says "Warrants to arrest are issued by the courts everyday and Police prioritise them. The transient nature of many people who have a warrant for their arrest means that sometimes we can't find the person straight away. Sometimes when we visit the person is aware that we are looking for them and has gone into hiding, or they have moved and provided a false address. Over the past few weeks we've been looking closely at those who have warrants for their arrest, and making enquiries into where they are."

The operation aims to disrupt criminal activity and prevent further offending and Police say the message it sends is simple;

"If you think you can commit crime and lay low in the Waitemata Police district you're wrong. This operation is just one of many. We've had staff making enquiries in plain clothes and uniform, and though we're not going to show our hand and say exactly what we're doing, what we can say is you can expect to be stopped anywhere, at anytime."

The operation is the first of several new initiatives to combat and prevent crime in the Waitemata district, by disrupting criminal behaviour. One initiative is focussing on vehicle-enabled crime, crimes that occur or are helped by the use of a car.

Another 15 officers in the Police Motorways section (part of the Waitemata district) have also spent the day assisting other Waitemata District Police officers in serving driver licence suspension notices to people who have exceeded their demerit points. A legal requirement of suspending a person's licence is that they are physically served with a letter telling them they have exceeded their demerit points and are no longer allowed to drive, as with a warrant to arrest, there are often occasions where the person can't be found to have the notice served on them. A total of 50 such letters have been served so far today, 40 of which were served to people living in the Rodney area.

"We're targeting high-risk drivers. These are the people that have been given demerit points for speeding, for driving on a learners or restricted licence or for very low-level drink driving offences. This behaviour is not wanted on our roads and we know from experience that it does go hand-in-hand with other offending and what we're wanting to do is disrupt that behaviour and prevent crime from even happening in the first place" says Inspector Humble.

ENDS

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