The National government is taking police cars off the streets of the Hutt Valley despite a rise in reported crime rates, Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins says.

“There are already eight fewer police cars on the road in the Hutt Valley as a result of the National government’s Budget cuts and that might not be the worst of it,” Mr Hipkins said.

Mr Hipkins asked written parliamentary questions to the Police Minister Judith Collins which revealed that in 2008 there were 18 vehicles in Upper Hutt and 59 in Lower Hutt but in 2009 there were only 17 police vehicles in Upper Hutt and 52 in Lower Hutt.

“Taking police cars off our roads can only make the streets of the Hutt Valley less safe for our families and children. It’s an appalling move and makes a mockery of National’s promise to focus police resources on the frontline.

“I’m afraid to say we can probably expect to see even less police cars on the streets of the Hutt Valley in coming years. The government removed 157 police cars from streets nationwide between 2008 and 2009 and aims to remove 340 from our streets by June.

This move comes despite a 4 percent increase in reported rates of crime by Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt police.

“This shows the government cannot afford to take any more police cars off the streets.

“My labour colleagues and I will continue to challenge the government on this. We are absolutely opposed to any action that makes our streets less safe and believe the government should be doing everything it can to keep our streets patrolled.

“Cutting police resources so that they can give tax cuts to the highest paid is a massive breach of the trust given to them by the public. It’s yet another example of the National Party making hollow promises before the election that they had no intention of keeping,” Mr Hipkins says.

Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins has pledged to continue the fight against any reduction in police numbers and resources in the Hutt Valley following news that the National-led government is selling police cars and looking at selling police houses and stations. Read the rest of this entry »

Public concern at the proposed merger of the Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt police districts has already resulted in over 2,000 people signing a petition against the move, with more and more signatures flooding in daily. Read the rest of this entry »

Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins has welcomed news that the bail conditions of a man accused of raping a 15 year old girl have been changed and that he will no longer be bailed to a flat just 300 metres from the alleged victim’s home. Read the rest of this entry »

Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins has expressed his deep concern that the Upper Hutt Police did not object to the bail conditions imposed on a man accused of raping a 15 year old girl and has urged the Police to take action to ensure such a situation doesn’t occur again in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Hutt Valley residents will be disappointed to learn that Police Minister Judith Collins is refusing to guarantee that the number of police working in the Hutt will not decrease as a result of the proposed merger of the Lower and Upper Hutt Police Districts, Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins says. Read the rest of this entry »

On a daily basis we are bombarded through out televisions, newspapers and radios with the unsettling and sometimes horrific effects of crime. Few stories will pull at our heartstrings and stir our sense of frustration and injustice more than an elderly widow who has been beaten in her own home or a young child who has been abused by those whose responsibility it is to protect them.

As we struggle to cope with this daily overload of tragedy and injustice, we are often left feeling helpless in the face of such a large and seemingly insurmountable problem. How can we make our communities safe again? How can we turn back the tide? Read the rest of this entry »

Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins and Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy launched a petition opposing the merger of the Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt police districts last week. The pair met outside the Upper Hutt police station to be the first to put their signatures to the petition, which is being circulated around the community via email and can be downloaded from the internet.

“We hope that this petition will send a clear signal to the Wellington District Police Commander that Upper Hutt people will not tolerate any merger. We do not want to see our police station downgraded and we want to ensure that Upper Hutt gets its fair share of the extra police that the new National government have promised,” Chris Hipkins said. Read the rest of this entry »

Police Minister Judith Collins needs to guarantee to Hutt Valley people that they will get their fair share of extra police numbers, says Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins. Read the rest of this entry »

Labour’s candidate for the Rimutaka electorate Chris Hipkins has released a ‘Top 10′ list of local priorities for his first term if elected as the local Member of Parliament. Mr Hipkins says the list gives local residents a clear idea of the sorts of issues he would work on and will give people a yardstick against which to measure his effectiveness. Read the rest of this entry »