Top brass urged to step up efforts amid crime spike
Canterbury appears to be underserved by the police, new figures show, as suburbs in Christchurch battle spiralling crime.
With about 650,000 residents, Canterbury makes up about 13% of New Zealand’s population.
But the region is only home to 987 sworn officers, about 9% of the New Zealand police force. National roles, such as those in the police prosecution team, are not counted in the district numbers.
It comes as some people in Christchurch are demanding an increased police presence following a massive spike in crime in their suburb.
Thefts and burglaries in Hornby are up by more than 80% in the past year, and tired residents are calling on the region’s top officers to step in.
Residents in Hornby are petitioning the police to have their police station manned 24 hours a day following a major spike in theft and burglary.
The petition, which on Monday night was just shy of 1000 signatures, will be presented to Canterbury Metro Superintendent Lane Todd on Tuesday night at a community meeting to discuss rising levels of crime.
Read the full story from reporter Shannon Redstall here (subscription required).
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Kalle
"Sports and travelling run in the family, and that's kind of what's led me to come to New Zealand."
"I grew up in a small town in Finland. My dad was involved with sports all his life, he was a shot putter, discus thrower, powerlifter, we traveled quite a bit when I was a kid. He never mentioned much of the rugby days. He just said he broke both of his shin bones playing rugby, so he said, ‘never play the sport, It's crazy.’
I started playing when I was 18. I played my first cap for the Finnish national team in 2014, we won the Finnish championship with my club. Rugby is not a big thing in Finland.
I moved here to play rugby in 2017. The club that wanted me to come over was Methven Rugby Club. They got me here and they were like, ‘what do you do for work? I’d just finished chef school in Finland. ‘We'll get you a job at Mount Hutt as a chef, you can do that while you play rugby with us.’ I said, ‘Perfect. Yeah, I'm in’.
I've always loved food. My mum was an amazing cook, and still is. When I was studying tourism I worked in some hotels in Finland, and I saw how the chef's worked. I just loved the kitchen vibe and I was like, Yeah, that’d be something I'd love to do.
I've had more of a culinary journey In New Zealand than in Finland. I started at Mount Hutt, after that I worked at The Dubliner in Methven. I worked as a senior pizza chef at Sal’s for maybe six months then worked as chef de partie at Cellar Door. At Eliza's Manor, I worked myself up to a junior sous chef. Then the opportunity came to work my first head chef job at Moon Under Water.
We're privileged to have a busy atmosphere, we can try new things and get a bit creative. There are no TV’s, just come here with your family or with your mates, play board games, to socialise.
I really want to drive the local food and ingredients through the menu. We don't mind spending more for quality ingredients as long as it's supporting New Zealand businesses. We just love to use local. And it's pub food, but I feel like it's elevated.
I play club rugby here for the Christchurch Football Club, the oldest club in New Zealand and I still play regularly for the Finnish national team, whenever they can fly me over to play."
- Kalle
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