Police Community Base Returns To Titahi Bay
New Zealand Police Wellington News Release
9:37am 27 June 2008
http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release.html?id=4050

A permanent police presence returns to Titahi Bay next week with the opening of the Titahi Bay Community Policing Base in the Whitehouse Road shopping centre.

"We are excited to finally get this project up and running," says Inspector John Spence, Kapiti Mana Police Area Commander. "It has been a long time coming and the project has been made possible by a lot of support from the people of Titahi Bay."

The Hon. Winnie Laban, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs and local MP for Mana will join with Porirua Mayor Jenny Brash to open the Base - the community safety hub - at 10am on Wednesday, 2 July. Police hope the permanent presence in the Whitehouse Road shops will help increase community engagement and reassurance in the Bay.

"Community policing means working with and for the community and we are looking forward to this new opportunity," Inspector Spence says. "We encourage residents and businesses to call into the base once it opens."

Titahi Bay used to have a police base but it was closed about 10 years ago.

The decision to reopen stems from safety concerns raised by residents and businesses. Police, Porirua City Council and the Titahi Bay Residents Association have worked together to make the project happen.

Inspector Spence says the base will have a real community focus. It will be staffed with volunteers from the Residents Association who will monitor the new CCTV system and answer any queries from people who visit. The volunteers will be working closely with Constable Mike Mackenzie, the Titahi Bay community constable.

Porirua City Council has provided the new security cameras in the shopping precinct, gardens and painting to help the overall rejuvenation.

Mayor Jenny Brash hopes the police base will be the catalyst towards making the Whitehouse Road shopping centre a safer and more vibrant place for people to enjoy and visit.

"It's important that we attract people to area," she says. "People feel safer and are more likely to use their local businesses and public space when the area looks welcoming and more people are present."

The police base will also be used by the Porirua Community Guardians as they expand their patrols throughout Porirua.

"This will help us increase our presence in Titahi Bay and gives us a central location in Titahi Bay to operate from," says Guardians Manager Dallas Crampton.

"Graffiti is still an issue in Titahi Bay and we want to use our increased patrols to identify then paint out the tagging we find."

ENDS

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