Community Safety

Hastings District Council’s support and commitment to safety within the community is reflected in both the Hastings Crime Prevention Plan and the Central Business District Safety Plan programmes. These have a focus on crime reduction and their success will assist residents to feel safe in their homes.

• Hastings Crime Prevention Plan (PDF 178kB)
  • Hastings Crime Prevention Measurable Action Plan (PDF 137kB)
• Central Business District Safety Plan (PDF 1.37MB)

The Safe Hastings Advisory Committee focuses on working with the community organisations to support community initiatives aimed at crime prevention reduction and improving the coordination of services.

The Hastings District Council works in partnership with the Police and the Ministry of Justice's Crime Prevention Unit to develop, implement and support programmes aimed at crime prevention and community safety.

Neighbourhood safety

ALWAYS REPORT A BURGLARY TO POLICE

Police are available 24 hours a day by phoning 111 in an emergency. Tell the operator what service you want - Police, Ambulance or Fire Services. Try to stay calm when making the call, and do not hang up.

Give your name, address and phone number to the operator and try to answer questions slowly and clearly. Emergency calls are free from all phones, including payphones and cellphones.

Meet the Neighbourhood Safety team

The safety of neighbourhoods in Hastings is important to the Hastings District Council. The Council has one full-time Neighbourhood Safety Advisor, John Bailey, who has been with neighbourhood support in Hastings for over 20 years.

For more information on John Bailey and his work with neighbourhood safety, visit Celebrating a 20-year Success Story.

Preventing the would-be thief

Improving security in and around your home could prevent the would-be thief from entering your home. It could slow the thief down and create problems with noise - either way, it is always good to be prepared in case of a would-be thief.

Here are a few tips:

• Fit locks on your windows and lock them when you go out
• Glass can be removed from louvre windows so make sure you glue panes in with epoxy resin
• Lock your doors and close windows when going out - even if you are going out for only a minute
• Lock your doors at night when you are home
• Install deadlocks on exterior doors and internal garage doors
• Fit bolts on ranch sliders and french doors
• Do not hide your spare key under the mat or pot plants outside the door
• Lock your garage with a good quality padlock
• Do not put your name on your letterbox - it can allow people find your phone number and subsequently determine if and when you are home.
• Fit a security light to brighten doors and secluded areas
• Do not leave tools and ladders outside which could be accessible to the would-be thief
• Fit a door viewer so you can see who is at the door. Ask callers to identify themselves before you open the door
• Consider installing alarms
• Do not leave bikes, lawn mowers etc in open carports.

Going on holiday

With co-operation from your neighbours, you can minimise the likelihood of someone breaking into your home. The main thing is to avoid tell-tale signs of your absence. Inform your neighbours of when you are leaving to go on holiday and when you will be back. Ask them to close and open curtains, feed the pets and collect the mail.

Other things to remember when going on holiday and leaving your home unoccupied:

• Cancel your newspaper
• Get your mail re-directed
• Turn down your telephone ring so thieves don't know it's unanswered. Do not leave a message on your answering machine to say that you are away
• Have a light connected to a timer that turns on at night
• Arrange for someone to mow your lawn depending on how long you are going to be away for

If you do return home to find that you have been burgled, contact the Police straight away. Do not touch anything as you may accidentally destroy evidence.

Mark your valuables

Experienced thieves will sometimes only take cash which can not be identified. But your home contains all sorts of high value and portable items which can easily be sold.

Mark items such as televisions, cameras, videos, DVD players, computers and stereos with indelible markers, etching or engravings. You can use your driver's licence number which will assist Police (but nobody else) in identifying the property's rightful owner if it is stolen.

It is also a good idea to take photos or video of other valuable items such as paintings, jewelry, silver and antiques. Store the pictures or video somewhere safe, ideally not in your house so they can be used for insurance purposes in the event of a fire.

Home alarms

Alarms can be a good idea for your home. They won't stop a burglar from getting into your home, but alarms definitely limit the time inside your home. You should still make your secure with good quality and strong locks, doors, windows and lighting.

When considering installing an alarm, seek professional advice and discuss your requirements with at least two or three firms. They will inspect your home in order to advise you on what is appropriate for your home.

If your alarm is not professionally monitored, arrange for your neighbours to investigate if they hear it. Provide them with the code to turn it off if need be.

Neighbourhood Safety Groups

Council's Neighbourhood Safety Team encourage people to join a Neighbourhood Safety Group - a concept which will soon replace Neighbourhood Support.

The new modernised Neighbourhood Safety Groups are an improved format whereby people don’t need to meet as often and live almost “out of one another’s pockets” as people had previously thought. Groups are also smaller and more effective.

People don’t seem to have the time anymore to meet regularly with their wider neighbourhoods and discuss issues in their street. It seems people are also a little more private now days towards their neighbours – but this something that we need to change if we want burglaries to go down.

Co-operative groups of neighbours are vital to neighbourhood safety. Neighbours can sometimes spot suspicious behaviour and report to Police or even come in when people are away to turn lights on or close curtains so that it looks like someone is home.

Contact

Contact Paddy Steffert on  06 871 5000, or paddys@hdc.govt.nz, Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am to 4.30pm.