Senior Constable Deb Hann – On the Beat
Let’s start with some good news again this week. We have recently had a couple of car theft sprees. Fortunately, police located most of the vehicles very quickly. Two search warrants were executed. During the second warrant, police recovered a vehicle from a Piarere property that was stolen in Cambridge earlier in June.
Offenders had entered the garage of an address and were able to steal the vehicle, using keys left in it. Two youths have been held to account for their actions as a result. In addition, a stolen car from Cambridge was stopped by Palmerston North police and three more youths are being dealt with by Youth Aid. It is a good reminder to hide keys for any vehicle away from the vehicle itself. Many people have a key hook or bowl for keys somewhere near the front door; while not the case in this incident, it is another way that criminals can be enabled to commit further offending.
Still on vehicle related topics, disappointingly, drunk driving is featuring more than we’d like in our shifts again recently. For under 20-year-olds, the legal limit is zero, so a driver cannot have any alcohol before driving. At 20 years and over, the limit is 250mcg/litre of breath. Some of you will have seen the Waikato Impairment Prevention team in action with alcohol checkpoints to police this.
We are still regularly catching people driving when their breath alcohol is well over the limit. In recent weeks drivers of all ages have been stopped with results in the 500-800mcg range. Even a small amount of alcohol can increase your reaction times and reduce your awareness when driving. It doesn’t matter whether your journey is long or short, there can be no justification for putting yourselves and other motorists at risk of harm.
If you know someone is getting into a vehicle to drive when they have been drinking, we all have a responsibility to take action. If you are unable to prevent them from leaving yourself, phone 111 and provide details of the vehicle they are driving and the person themselves. Provide a direction of travel and if known, their intended destination. If you are hosting friends, be sure to offer food and even a bed for the night. If you stop a mate from drink driving, you are a legend.
