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August 30, 2023
Rotorua wants more police for crime explosion
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On August 30, 2023
Download AudioRotorua mayor Tania Tapsell wants more police her town.
She says there has been a spate of assaults in public spaces, including two recent attacks on young girls who were left bloodied and bruised.
While emergency accommodation in motels is down to half of what it was last year, crime rates are among the highest in the country.
“We are very concerned here in Rotorua because it doesn’t reflect our community but unfortunately we did see in our most recent youth offending and youth assault, unfortunately there were gang colours and gang calls being gn worn and called out when this was occurring so we do believe it may be gang related,” Ms Tapsell says.
She says police numbers don’t relect those exceptional crime levels – and Rotorua Lakes Council is trying to fill the gap by spending $1.8 million on private security guards and increasing its CCTV coverage.
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