Over the last week, several concerning break-ins have occurred at local businesses in Upper Hutt. We know the community feels unsafe due to home invasions, car break-ins, stolen cars, homelessness, and retail crime. This is a real concern for these businesses, our community, and myself. Our council representatives are meeting with the Police Area Commander on Wednesday 2nd July 2025, and I will raise these issues. The question for him is how he plans to address the recent increases in crime across most categories.

Last week, an Upper Hutt Police Community Constable attended the monthly Grey Power Meeting, which I also attended. This discussion focused on self-protection and detection of scams for Grey Power members.

Area Commander Wade Jennings also attended the Upper Hutt Multicultural Council meeting a week ago, where I was present as the Deputy Mayor of Upper Hutt. The discussions with the Area Commander centered on retail crime and general crime statistics for Upper Hutt. He commented on the rise in social issues as one of the common drivers.

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting last week on retail crime, attended by Sunny Kaushal, Chairman of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Retail Crime at the Ministry of Justice, Area Commander Wade Jennings, and myself as Upper Hutt’s Deputy Mayor. The agenda included:

• Recent and upcoming legislative changes impacting retailers
• Open discussion on challenges faced by large and small retail businesses
• Sharing concerns directly with Ministry of Justice representatives
• Collaborating on solutions to make communities and businesses safer

A number of Upper Hutt retailers attended the Chamber event. An Upper Hutt council officer shared that our Upper Hutt retailers have an advanced network among themselves and direct access to the police through this network. While the council can’t provide a large network of cameras, I believe that through the cooperation of businesses and the public, they have good coverage of the Central Business District. However, in light of recent events, the retailer and camera networks may need reviewing—a point for discussion next week with the Area Commander.

If anyone has concerns or views they would like raised with the Area Commander, please send them to hellen.swales@uhcc.govt.nz, and I will include them in our discussions. We look forward to further discussions with Wade and our elected members next Wednesday, 2nd July.

Hellen Swales

Deputy Mayor

27/06/25