Napier unsafe after dark, policeman says

Press, 11 January 1986, Page 25

Napier unsafe after dark, policeman says

PA Napier Napier’s top policeman said that parts of the city were unsafe for people walking alone at night. Superintendent Roger Richards was commenting on recent violent crime in Napier. He did not specify the dangerous areas.

“I did not have any specific areas in mind,” he said, “but there are certain areas where people would be advised not to go alone into after dark.”

His comments followed the abduction on Tuesday evening of a girl, aged 13, by two men in a car as she walked the short distance from her Onekawa home to a relative’s house.

Violent crime in the city seemed to have increased recently, said Mr Richards.

“Violence and brutality and criminals’ sheer disregard for consequences seems on the increase,” he said.

However, it did not only apply to Napier. “Society is moving away from discipline and order,” Mr Richards said. “Penalties have almost no deterrent effect. I feel we have reached the stage when criminals leave the court laughing at the penalty imposed on them. The law has moved so far toward protecting and rehabilitating offenders, nobody considers the victim any more.” Mr Richards said his comments were his personal view, but his opinions were shared by the public and many police.

He said that recent moves under the Criminal Justice Act, when judges were directed not to imprison offenders against property except in special circumstances, were an example of a swing in the wrong direction.

“I’m not fully convinced this is an effective step toward law enforcement,” he said, “and we (the police) often feel our efforts are wasted.”

Mr Richards said it was a shame people accepted society as it was.

“The public indicates by its lack of action that it accepts the state of affairs,” he said.

He said people should write to their members of Parliament and newspapers to try to instigate change.