Square police kiosk opens

Press, 28 August 1986, Page 1

Square police kiosk opens

The opening of the police kiosk in Cathedral Square yesterday gives Christchurch a facility similar to the community police stations of some cities in Japan and the United States. Those at the lunchtime opening heard that the idea for a police kiosk in the Square was first raised in 1961. The idea did not catch on until this year, after a series of violent incidents in and near the Square had prompted action.

Christchurch people backed the idea with donations to a Radio Avon fund-raising appeal, with businesses and the Government giving the rest towards the cost of the kiosk.

Yesterday’s gathering celebrated the realisation of the idea. The Christchurch Police Band, a local Maori group, speeches, brief appearances by Sniff, a police, dog, and the Wizard, barbecued sausages, and soft drinks marked police and community co-operation. The Minister of Police, Mrs Hercus, told the crowd that the kiosk was a success for Christchurch; reflecting the concern of the police and the community. The Christchurch district commander of police, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, John Jamieson, said that if the police were to be effective they must be visible and available.

The kiosk should provide that, he said. Volunteers would staff the kiosk from 8 a.m.to 12 midnight each day, with a community constable, Constable Glen Gordon, and other police using the kiosk as a base. The Cathedral Square beathad‘beenexpanded from three *'• police < to - nine. They would usually work three to a shift, he said.

This was the first such kiosk in New Zealand, but already they were common in ' some overseas countries, said Mr Jamieson.

Japan had, since 1972, set up numerous community police stations in cities since 1972, and the same idea had caught on in parts of the United States.

He emphasised that the volunteers in the kiosk were an intermediary between the community and police, with a direct link to the police on the beat and the Central Police Station.