Waiouru police now in range

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 615, 5 December 1995, Page 10

Waiouru police now in range

Waiouru police are now more accessible to the public with the purchase of a new cell phone and two 'hands free' booster kits for their vehicles. Waiouru police have copped a bit of criticism in the past for not being available to the public enough, Senior Constable Mike Martin said. Apart from the fact that Waiouru cannot get call diversion, their old brick-type cell phone was past its life expectancy and wasn't calling out of a lot of places. "Basically if you didn't get us on the old system you got nothing (apart from emergency 1 1 1 calls)," he said. The Waiouru RSA and the Oasis Hotel were approached with a quote for a new cell phone and they obliged. With the new phone Waiouru police can be contacted north of the summit of the Desert Road, a point that doesn't even have police radio contact. Also, after five rings the cellphone automatically hooks through to Wanganui, so people will get service. "The purchase of this has improved our accessibility to the public with a huge increase in coverage," Const Martin said. "We're greatly indebted to the Waiouru community for this," he said.