A significant drop in shoplifting in Gisborne’s central business district has been put down to “a multi-pronged team effort” by police.

A story in the latest Police Ten One Magazine says reports of shoplifting in Gisborne’s city centre businesses had dropped to the lowest level since 2022.

Tairāwhiti Area Commander Inspector Danny Kirk says in the story that recorded shoplifting offences had decreased by about 60 percent over the past six months.

The story says in May of last year, after feedback from inner city retailers about the high levels of shoplifting, the Community Prevention Team made “a commitment to address the issue”.

The first step was to identify recidivist shoplifters, Gisborne community relations co-ordinator Sergeant Isaac Ngatai said.

“Working with Sergeant Nigel Hurley and the Eastern District Investigation Support Unit, the team identified five offenders who were believed to be responsible for a large proportion of the shoplifting in Gisborne’s CBD.

“The next step was holding the offenders to account with stringent bail conditions banning them from the city centre, with follow-up regular bail checks.

“Bail oppositions were consistently applied for. After several more offences committed by offenders while on bail, our oppositions to bail were successful and several offenders were kept in custody.”

Ngatai said the team was also proactive - following up with the offenders to reduce the opportunity to reoffend.

“In one instance, we followed up with a shoplifting offender and supported them to attend a drug rehabilitation centre, and to date they have not reoffended.

“We have a zero tolerance to reoffending and if we identify someone committing more offences, we follow up the arrest ASAP to ensure a rapid response to offending.”

Another facet of the approach was increasing the time spent doing foot patrols in the city centre, engaging with retailers and encouraging them to report all crime, he said.

The presence of extra police on city centre streets has made a difference to the level of shoplifting incidents, police say.

“We gave out crime prevention advice, which included conflict resolution, as many retailers felt threatened and didn’t know how to react to loud, abusive people in their store.”

Ngatai said they also updated retailers regularly on the progress of investigations and gave advice on crime prevention through environmental design, including shelf height, where certain items were stored within the shop, and whether people could see into the store or if the windows were covered in posters and advertising.

“Paying attention to things like this can help reduce the opportunities for crime.

“It has been a true team effort from Tairāwhiti police, with all teams contributing to the high visibility in the CBD area.

“Whether it’s a simple mobile patrol through the central city, or a walk down the road to have a coffee, it all contributes to our visibility in the CBD and builds that trust and confidence.”

Kirk said the team’s achievement had resulted in a drop in recorded shoplifting occurrences by about 60 percent over the past six months.

“Strategically, our area has refocused on doing the basics well and the impact we’ve had on retail crime is a fantastic example of what our people are capable of.”