9 May 2019

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Fighting in CBD

Enquiry

We have been told about a number of fights in the Rotorua CBD yesterday including a brawl involving homeless people on Tutanekai St (near Whitcoulls) at about 4pm that witnesses describe as "quite ugly".

We we wondering if council staff were aware of these incidents? Is it disappointing after the success and extension of Council's summer safety campaign?

NOTE: Reporter subsequently clarified, when asked for more details about the number, locations and nature of the fights they had been made aware of, that there may have been a scuffle outside Work and Income but they were mainly interested in the brawl

Response

From Rotorua Lakes Council's Operations Group Manager, Henry Weston:

We are aware of an incident that took place on Tutanekai Street yesterday at around 4pm involving a number of individuals. Inner city security staff and the Police arrived on the scene very quickly and defused the situation.

This incident was deescalated appropriately and efficiently, reinforcing the value of the joint Council and Police safety campaign in our CBD. We have a lot of confidence in our inner city security team.

The campaign aims to provide a safe and friendly inner city environment for businesses, their staff and the public.

We are achieving this through increased patrols and CCTV monitoring to deter anti-social and criminal behaviour and deal promptly with any emerging issues or incidents that do occur.