There are calls for more officers on the beat as police data reveals the number of assaults reported to police has risen in Whangārei Central.

Assaults in the area rose from 85 in 2021 to
134 in 2022, with 18 reported in January 2023 alone. There is no data yet for February and March, so recent attacks on young father Rob Ludlow on Water St and family lawyer Brintyn Smith at the Whangārei courthouse are not included in the data.

Despite this, reported assaults in Northland overall have dropped, with 1684 in 2022 and 1888 in 2021. There has been no increase in assaults reported to CitySafe recently, Whangārei District Council confirmed.

The most common time for assaults in the central Whangārei area was between midnight and 3am on Sunday.

Ludlow was allegedly attacked around 2.45am on Sunday, February 26. One person was referred to Youth Aid over the assault that left him in a coma.

Northland Chamber of Commerce president Tim Robinson said there have been issues with crime in general in the CBD for some time, with workers often worried for their safety at night.

“It probably didn’t help the general mood of the business community when we found out that the youth crime stats that had been trumpeted a few months back were actually incorrect, which was anecdotally what we believed, that numbers were actually up,” he said.

“There is a crime issue and we still maintain, first and foremost, that we need our police actually out on the street with a visible presence.”

Data revealed earlier this month showed youth crime in Whangārei rose by nearly 15 per cent from 2018 to 2022.

Apart from recent violent crimes, Robinson said an issue with more minor crimes that came up last year, had returned after “some action” was taken against a group of youths.

“There’s another group now which had kind of popped up in their place and again, they’re running around causing merry hell.”

Robinson said police needed to patrol more, as he only saw them out on the beat every few months.

“There’s quite a number of international studies that have very clearly demonstrated that the physical presence of police has reduced particularly petty crime by up to 80 per cent,” he added.

“It works but it’s a resourcing issue. But of course, it comes down to priorities.”

Foot traffic had not fallen, Robinson said, but he believed the city was not a welcoming place and people had not been keen to head into the city at night for some time.

“What we’re struggling with is there’s no incentive for people to come and spend more time here. They come and do the things they want to do but that’s kind of it.”

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said he would also like to see more police on the beat in the CBD.

“I believe more visible police patrols will deter antisocial behaviour in our central business district. I know our local police force is monitoring our CBD closely, they have been working with CitySafe to respond to calls for service, although we would welcome a more visible police presence in our central city area and around our district.

“If we want to see true change in this space, however, we need a multi-faceted approach from our community, police force, local authorities and key community leaders. The weight of addressing antisocial behaviour in our community doesn’t sit with police alone.”

Police were approached for comment but did not respond by publication time.