‘Same families, same calls’: Police raise concern over repeat harm and youth crime

Police are raising concerns about repeat family harm and youth crime in Māngere and Ōtāhuhu, with officers returning to the same households again and again.

Speaking to the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board, Inspector Mohammed Atiq, Counties Manukau West Area Prevention Manager, said the pattern is clear and hard to break.

“It's usually the same people over and over again, so it's not new that we go to new places when we go to somebody we've actually been there before, they don't have their own capability or problem-solving skills to sort their problems out and that's why they get into that situation,” Atiq said.

He said many of these cases involve children, which means police cannot simply step back.

“The issue we've got is generally there's a whole lot of kids involved too, so it's not like we can just go away and wait for them to sort themselves out, so we engage quite a bit just to kind of help them along, it's almost holding their hands as they sort of go through the process,” he said.

Family harm remains the biggest issue in the area but it is also linked to violence in public places.

“On the same note, public place violence, if you look at about 30 per cent of that is family harm, so these are the same people that are causing issues at home, they're getting in public and doing the same thing in public as well,” Atiq said.

Atiq says pressure on families is also showing up in other ways. Retail crime is rising with some cases pointing to basic need.

“We've picked up people that have stolen meat and groceries, which kind of shows there is a connection that it's not just dealing with violence, it's actually looking through the house itself,” he said.

Counties Manukau West Area Prevention Manager Inspector Mohammed Atiq. Photo/PMN News/Taelegalolo'u Mary Afemata

Car theft and break-ins remain a major concern in Māngere, with many vehicles parked on the street and seen as easy targets.

“For Māngere, that's a big concern, especially with our cars getting either broken into, parked on the side of the road, getting stolen, or getting broken into while they're parked,” Atiq said.

He said the types of cars in the area and wider social pressures also play a role.

“It is a hard one, so if you look at say, Epsom, Mount Albert for example, those kind of areas which do have, not similar, but they have a lot of cars parked on the road. They don't have a lot of car crimes there because of the type of cars that are parked on the road.

“We tend to have the cars that are sort of the early 2000 plus models, which are reasonably easy to break into and steal, so you know, we'll always have that problem because of the socio-economic makeup that we've got in the area,” he said.

Counties Manukau police officers at a community engagement event. Photo/Auckland Response Team - South (NZ-RT23) Facebook.

Youth offending is another key driver, with most offenders in Māngere described as local and mostly in their teens or early 20s. Family harm cases tend to involve older age groups.

Harry Fatu Toleafoa, a local board member, questioned whether growing housing density and more cars on the street could be driving vehicle crime and what can be done to reduce the risk.

An emerging issue raised during the meeting was the misuse of nitrous oxide among young people. Board member Christine O’Brien asked about its availability and what advice had been given to retailers.

“It is generally young people, and school age… because it is pretty cheap to get,” Atiq said.

Toleafoa also questioned whether restrictions should be considered if youth use continues to rise, suggesting the board could advocate for tighter controls, referencing existing age restrictions on spray paint purchases.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board members, who raised concerns about crime and community safety at their Wednesday business meeting. Photo/Auckland Council.

Police say they have already increased patrols in key areas to improve safety and visibility.

“You would have seen in the last probably two months, there is a lot more visible presence of police… just talk, creates that feeling of safety,” Atiq said.

Local board members signalled they want ongoing updates and stronger prevention with a focus on tackling the root causes behind crime, not just responding after the fact.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.