Waimarino may escape police staff cuts

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 657, 8 October 1996, Page 1

Waimarino may escape police staff cuts

Police senior sergeant Ross Beilby confirmed that a proposal to include the Waimarino in a new police district with its base in Tokoroa and headquarters in Tauranga, when he addressed the Waimarino Community Board at their meeting last week. Ssgt Bielby had been invited to the board' s meeting to bring them up to date with changes in policing in the area. He said he understood from his superiors that a proposal to break up the current Wanganui police district was being considered and that it was likely that a boundary change would see Waimarino go north, to fit in with the Land Transport Authority's boundaries. Outlining other changes in the force, Mr Beilby said staff cuts were being made throughout the country, in conjunction with the introduction of a new computer system which was supposed to cut down on the amount of paper work that officers were required to do. He said while there were delays in installing the system, the staff cuts were still going ahead as planned. However, he said the Waimarino area had not fared badly in the process in comparison to other areas, only losing a traffic officer but gaining a detective plus his position of senior sergeant, although the previous sergeant' s position had not been filled. He had been told by his bosses that in this area, staff cuts would probably be made in Taumarunui, Taihape and possibly National Park. Mr Beilby also explained the changes to the dispatch system, saying all North Island 1 1 1 calls would probably

soon be routed through two major control rooms with Waimarino probably under Wellington. He said the new computer assisted dispatch system would be as good as the information loaded into it and that it was a more sophisticated system than in the past. The computer system would have local knowledge, with officers providing local names of landmarks, for example, the 'Banana Bridge' on the Parapara Highway. "It will only be as good as the information we can provide," he said, adding that "it may be unfair to comment until we see it operating." Geographical problems Asked about the problems of travel distances in a district such as Ruapehu, Mr Bielby said it was true that the different geography led to enormous differences to city policing. For example, a task such as serving a summons may take 10 minutes in a city, but 2&1/2 hours here, with travel there and back taken into account. Member Gary Rawnsley said rather than having staff numbers cut, Waimarino should be allocated extra staff, especially in winter to cope with the ski season problems. Cited was the case of Mt Maunganui which gets extra officers in summer. Mr Bielby said it was of some comfort to know that Waimarino was no worse off than any other station. He said the last three staff to join Waimarino have come from Henderson and that they tell "some fairly grim tales" of things happening in the cities.