Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Nine homicides in just four months have stretched Northland police, who have had to turn their back on other crimes, triggering an "unprecedented" mayday call for out-of-town help.
Once famed for its beaches, beauty and laid-back lifestyle, Northland is now back in the headlines - but for all the wrong reasons.
There has been a surge in violent crime and homicides - nine to date already this year - which has triggered a police mayday call, with dozens of extra officers heading to the area to help.
Officials are calling it a "targeted boost" to frontline policing, with crews in blue hitting the streets, patrolling hot spots, cracking down on gang activity, and sorting through the growing backlog of cases.
More than 90 police staff - from as far afield as Southland - have already bolstered the region's special operation for five-week stints, with no end date in sight.
New Zealand Herald senior investigative journalist Michael Morrah, who broke the story, tells The Detail that part of the problem is it appears police do not want to live and work up north.
The increase in crime, fuelled by a toxic mix of poverty, drugs, unemployment, and organised gang presence, is perhaps too much to handle.
"Getting police officers who are going to be working in those mid to far north areas has been a problem," says Morrah, who grew up in Northland.
"I think it has been a problem for many, many years, and I think it's probably at its worst right now."
He describes the latest crime wave as unprecedented and the move to deploy out-of-town police officers to deal with it as "a pretty unusual, unprecedented response in terms of the numbers of police who are going up there, in terms of the duration of the support operation".
"This year, alone, we have had nine alleged homicides in Northland, that is a record even on last year, [when there were eight] and we are not even at the end of the year yet.
"Police, obviously, when they are dealing with killings and investigating that, it takes a huge amount of manpower, a huge amount of hours, to get those cases to court.
"And what's happened is police officers are being taken off other jobs. In the words of the District Commander [Superintendent] Matt Srhoj, it has left police with an inability to follow up on other crimes that are happening."
Police told The Detail that the fourth rotation is about to commence, and they will continue to review the ongoing support.
They could not provide any details on how much it is costing, but confirmed staff were not being back-filled due to the short stint of deployment.
Morrah says while locals welcome the extra boots on the ground, they warn policing alone will not solve it. Mental health support, youth programmes, Māori wardens, and job opportunities - they argue - are just as vital.
"Iwi want to be part of the solution," Morrah says. "They want to help police here. They are absolutely concerned about crimes not being followed up on, about slow response times, but they also want to be part of the solution."
He says while Northland is "paradise" and "has a lot of offer", it's often forgotten about on a national level.
"There is a view, and I think there is some validity to this, that over many, many years, Northland has been neglected by consecutive governments. And it is not a powerhouse, like Wellington and Auckland, and I think in many cases, Northland is sadly forgotten.
"And I think that politicians could be doing more to assist in the development of places like Northland to make it a great place to live, go to school, and work."
The coming months will be a crucial test - not just for the police tasked with turning the tide, but for a community desperate to take its streets back.
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