18 October 2005

Campaign to beat burglary in Glen Innes and Panmure

Auckland City is joining forces with Housing New Zealand and the Police in a unique programme to reduce crime in Glen Innes and Panmure.

The 'Home Safe' campaign will focus on reducing theft from homes in the two suburbs, which have some of the highest rates of burglary in Auckland.

The project is being overseen by Safer Auckland City and will include a variety of tactics to reduce the opportunity for offending in the area.

The programme will involve:
* an education campaign to teach people how to protect their homes from burglars
* a security audit of residential homes
* security installations in targeted Housing New Zealand homes
* Police focusing available resources in the area.

Safer Auckland City spokeswoman, Betty MacLaren, says the education campaign will be a crucial aspect of the programme.

"Burglary is a really upsetting crime and many households in this area are the target of burglary more than once. Our aim is to reduce the number of victims in Glen Innes and Panmure.

"Sadly, may people don't lock their doors and windows and we want to encourage households in this area to adopt safe behaviour, such as locking doors, as a first step in reducing burglary rates," she says.

Ms MacLaren says a resource kit will be produced that will take people through the various things they can do to protect their property.

She says there's a strong and diverse community in Glen Innes and Panmure and one of the aims of the campaign is to capitalise on this by getting people to look out for their neighbours.

Ms MacLaren says the safety of the overall neighbourhood will also be improved when recommendations from a crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) assessment are implemented. This might cover such things as improved sightlines.

Housing New Zealand's Regional Manager for Central Auckland, Graham Bodman, says HNZC is a significant home owner in the area, managing just over 300 of the 450 properties within the project area.

He says HNZC supports a joint approach to reduce crime in the area though this project.

"We want to make the area a safer place to live through a joint effort with the local community. We will be sending HNZC tenants in the area a letter letting them know about the project and inviting them to take part in community meetings."

The Police Eastern Area Chief Inspector, John Palmer, says the Police are an integral part of the campaign.

"We're working closely with other agencies through education to prevent crimes and to more quickly resolve crimes that do occur through targeted enforcement."

The Home Safe campaign will run in the Glen Innes and Panmure area for the next year.

Safer Auckland City is a joint venture between Auckland City Council, the Police, Ngati Whatua and the Ministry of Justice Crime Prevention Unit.

ENDS

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