Security Christchurch

Kapiti and Masterton Police have arrested a man in connection to a number of burglaries committed in Kapiti, Pukerua Bay and Masterton areas over the last two months.

Handbags and wallets were mainly targeted, giving the offender access to cash and bank cards, which were used at ATM machines to withdraw the victims’ money. The offender would usually discard the remaining property near the place he stole it.

The offender committed the offences during the hours of darkness, and was known to enter insecure addresses and vehicles to steal property while occupants were in the house.

The 40 year old Upper Hutt man appears in the Porirua District Court today charged with 11 burglaries. Further burglary and fraud charges will be laid at a later date.

At present, our justice system does not distinguish between the two types of offenders: victims of ongoing abuse who use responsive violence; and perpetrators of sustained and intentional abuse.

Imagine being arrested for trying to protect yourself or a child from assault. Would you ever risk calling for help in the future?

“The likelihood of a partner using violence against us depends largely on whether our partner is male or female,” says Deborah Mackenzie, Interagency Coordinator at shine* shine* researched all domestic violence arrests in Auckland City from April to September 2008 and found of all offenders arrested for domestic violence, 10% were women.”

“We often hear female offending is on the rise. Data from Auckland shows that this is not the case and men remain the predominant perpetrators of domestic violence against their female partners,” reports Deborah Mackenzie.

Just over half the females arrested in the six month period had offended against a male (ex) partner. Looking into the history of all the women who were arrested, Deborah Mackenzie discovered well over half of them had been the victim of abuse at the hands of their male partner, often enduring horrific abuse for many years. On the occasions they retaliated or used self defence to protect themselves they were arrested.

There were no women offending against a male (ex) partner scored by police as being high risk offenders. Furthermore 62% of the women were assessed by police as being of no apparent risk. In the majority of cases the male victims did not report feeling scared of their female partner.

Violence of any kind is not condoned at shine*, however, it is absolutely vital our community response to domestic violence recognizes there can be significant differences in the context, impact and intent behind the violence often largely influenced by the perpetrator’s gender.

Men and women in heterosexual relationships use violence in different ways and for different purposes. Often men’s use of violence is to have control and power over their female partner, whereas women are more likely to use violence against their male partner to protect themselves, or in retaliation or response to what they have experienced in the past.

At present our justice system does not distinguish between the two types of offenders: victims of ongoing abuse who use responsive violence; and perpetrators of sustained and intentional abuse.

Scenario: o You have called the police to protect yourself or a child from assault o You raise a chair to protect yourself or a child o The police arrive and you are arrested and charged with assault Would you ever take the risk of calling for help in the future?

Free National Helpline to assist callers with a range of professional support services including risk assessment, safety planning, information, advocacy and referrals

24 Hour professional crisis and advocacy support for child and adult victims of domestic violence _ Refuge accommodation on the North Shore, Auckland

Child Crisis Team – for children distressed by witnessing violence in their homes who are often also at risk of being assaulted themselves

No Excuses – a stopping violence programme to help educate men who use abusive and violent behaviour

Local inter-agency network coordination to ensure our services work together to keep people safe

Safe @ Home programme – to secure the homes of victims with replacement solid wood doors, window locks, security lighting and silent, personal alarm systems

Domestic violence awareness and professional training programmes – for volunteers, tertiary students, professionals (i.e. police, social workers, health professionals, teachers etc) and community groups

Workplace Trust & Support – programme that shows how to positively address bullying and domestic violence in the workplace

A young woman staying at a city backpackers was attacked last night as she returned to her lodgings.

About 10pm the twenty year old was walking down Gloucester Street between Stanmore Road and Fitzgerald Ave when she noticed a male outside an address close to where she was heading. As she passed him he undid the zip on his pants exposed himself so she walked faster. As she tried to open the door to the backpackers he groped her from behind but ran off when she screamed.

He’s described as male, Caucasian, who spoke English with a kiwi accent, about 175cm tall, medium build with black hair with blonde streaks. He was wearing a black puffer jacket, jeans and is probably in his twenties.

Cambridge Police are seeking a man following the attempted robbery of a bank in the town this morning.

Sergeant Gordon Grantham said the incident happened about 9.30am when a man walked into the Westpac Bank on Victoria St.

“He’s walked up to a teller and presented a note demanding money. When the teller has gone to confer with another staff member it appears the offender has panicked and fled the premises.”

Police are currently reviewing security footage of the incident to obtain a detailed description of the offender.

So far the only information confirmed is that he was a male wearing a cream coloured button up shirt, a dark cap and sunglasses.

North Shore CIB have arrested two men aged 19 and 27 after recent robberies at two banks in suburban Birkenhead and Glenfield.

The men are appearing separately in the Whangarei and North Shore District Courts today for the robbery of the ANZ Bank in Glenfield on 3 June 2009, and the BNZ Bank in Birkenhead on 19 June 2009.

One offender was arrested by police in Whangarei on Friday night 3 July 2009 and the second offender was arrested in Birkdale on Saturday 4 July 2009.

Police say that the arrests were achieved as a result of excellent information received from members of the public. The penalty for robbery is ten years imprisonment.

At 3.00am on Saturday 20 June 2009, 3 masked males armed with a pistol, knife and tyre iron, robbed staff and patrons at the Bedrock Bar situated at 291 Lincoln Road, Addington.

Just as the bar had closed the robbers confronted a patron and a two staff members outside the rear of the bar, forcing them back into the bar where another patron was waiting to go home. The patrons and staff where held in the toilet while the robbers took money, cigarettes and alcohol before locking the patrons and staff in the bottle store and running off.

The robbers ran across Lincoln road into the Addingtown car park where they have made there getaway.
‘This is a brazen robbery where the robbers who were armed have been lying in wait at the rear of the bar. It is disturbing that a firearm has been presented.’ said Detective Sergeant Scott Anderson of the Hornby Police.

‘The robbers, we have been told seemed disorganized. The robbers have spent about 20 minutes inside the bar which is quite a while for a robbery’. ‘An early indication is that between 5-10 thousand dollars was stolen but this is just an indication until a more accurate audit is done’.

The robbers are described as male Maori or Pacific Islanders aged in their late teens early twenties. They were wearing hoodies and had scarf’s covering their faces.

Hamilton Police investigating the discovery of a man’s body in a car found abandoned in the city arrested two people for murder overnight.

The dead man has been identified as Piki KINGI, a 38-year-old Hamilton man Police had been searching for since receiving reports last Friday of an alleged serious assault at a Cobham Dr address.

The Mazda car Mr KINGI’S body was found in was recovered by Police from Mansel Ave late Sunday night.

Confirming the victim’s identity, homicide inquiry head, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page, said Mr KINGI had suffered some serious injuries.

“And those injuries will be the subject of scrutiny during a Post-Mortem examination being carried out this morning.

“Our investigations into the Cobham Dr incident have been able to confirm the link between Mr KINGI’S death and the address and we believe this is the place where he was murdered.”

Mr Page said that link was established via a detailed scene examination which is still continuing.

“Detectives investigating these matters arrested a 48-year-old Hamilton man and a 45-year-old Hamilton woman overnight and charged them with murder.

“The pair will be appearing in the Hamilton District Court this morning, as yet their identities have not been released.”

Mr Page said the arrests came about through a combination of sound Police work and assistance from the public, assistance which he hoped would continue.

“The investigation into Mr KINGI’S murder continues and we expect to make further arrests,” said Mr Page.

Hamilton Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who tried to rob a City late yesterday afternoon.

And they are warning people to play it safe if confronted by a robber, not take steps that may aggravate the situation.

Detective Mark Watt of the Hamilton CIB said a man walked into the Mitcham Ave dairy about 5pm but left when he realised the number of people in the store.

“He’s returned about 5.30pm, walked up to the counter and presented a pistol at the shop attendant demanding money.

“The attendant has immediately ducked down behind the counter and the shop owner, who happened to be standing by a fridge at the end of the counter, has thrown a bottle of water at the offender which was sufficient to scare the man off.”

It was this action that has Police concerned with Mr Watt warning that the best action to take when confronted with an armed attacker is to comply with their demands.

“Obviously Police sympathise with the frustrations of small business owners but in this situation what would have happened if the bottle had hit the robber’s hand and the gun then gone off with what could have been tragic circumstances?

“We advise people that the safest course of action is to avoid heroics, do as the robber demands and phone 111 as soon as possible, money can be replaced but lives can’t.”

The offender has then fled down the hill on foot where Police believe he may have then run through adjacent netball courts to make his escape.

“The offender is described as a male Maori or Pacific Islander wearing and dark blue and light coloured beanie, dark sunglasses, a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans.

“The distinctive design on his hoodie was repeated on the back though the design was larger and we’re hoping someone may recognise it in the photograph and get hold of us,” said Mr Watt.

Waikato Police are investigating links between an assault that took place at a Hamilton home earlier in the week and the disappearance of a City man.

Inquiry head, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page, of the Hamilton CIB said Police went to a Cobham Dr address on Friday after receiving information something was amiss.

“Subsequently a forensic examination of the property was completed which led us to believe a serious assault took place at the address.

“Our staff are still speaking to the occupants in an effort to establish what occurred and parallel to this investigators are endeavouring to locate a local man, Piki KINGI.”

Mr Page said the 38-year-old Maori male hadn’t been seen since the middle of last week. He is described as being of medium build, 190cm tall with shoulder length black hair.

“He was last seen about 11am on Wednesday 10 June at the Caltex service station in Hillcrest where he refuelled a burgundy 1992 Mazda MS6 liftback, registration number ACC958.

“We believe locating this car may hold the key to finding Mr KINGI and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen this vehicle.”

Mr Page stressed the investigation was still in its infancy and it was still too early to draw any conclusions regarding what had happened.

“At this stage we’re keeping an open mind into if the two incidents are linked and clarifying this issue is a major focus of the investigation team’s work.

“Forensic investigators are working with Police to establish if there are indeed any links however it would be fair to say that as time goes on our concerns for Mr KINGI’S wellbeing grow.”

A visiting South African rugby team must have felt they were on a hiding to nothing after first losing their match against the Chiefs and then having their hotel rooms burgled but some fast work by Hamilton Police saw the final whistle blown on the thief.

Several rooms occupied by the visiting Lions Super 14 team’s rooms were broken into on Saturday night with cash and personal property amongst items stolen.

Detective Sergeant Dave Grace said within an hour of being notified of the break-in detectives were banging on a suspect’s door with a search warrant in hand.

“A hotel staff member was identified as the person responsible for the theft and a search of his home resulted in the majority of items being recovered. Police received nothing other than excellent cooperation from the hotel company in this matter.

“We were able to affect a quick arrest in this case owing to the hotel’s existing security procedures at the hotel and the management’s relationship with Police.

Mr Grace said the Lions team had travelled to Auckland to prepare for their next match and were delighted to hear of the quick arrest and recovery of their property.

“Albeit the victims of crime the team’s spokesman said they were impressed with the speed of New Zealand’s Police and Hamilton detectives in particular,” said Mr Grace.

“We will return the team’s possessions over the next couple of days and we hope the prompt arrest of the thief goes someway to allaying any concerns they may have about Hamilton as a place to visit.”

A 23-year-old Hamilton student was bailed on a charge of burglary and further charges are likely.