Deb Thurgood
First of all, Constables Smith and Petch have asked me to pass on a thank you. Last week we received a call about a lady who had gone walking on the Waikato River trail, but had not arrived to meet her husband at the agreed time and place.
Without a phone, we had no way of easily contacting her and on foot, finding her along the trail would be a lengthy process. Two passing e-bikers agreed to help. They rode off and subsequently found the lady on the path. She had got her directions a bit mixed up and ended up walking a lot further than planned. With this public assistance, husband and wife were swiftly reunited and all ended well.
Continuing the theme of a helping hand, I wanted to highlight the strong social services support we have in Cambridge. Help is there if you need it. Have you heard of heretohelpu.nz ? This is a website that launched in April 2020 on the back of Covid-19’s arrival in New Zealand. Initially involving providers in Hamilton, heretohelpu.nz recognised that the community needed quick, easy, non-judgemental connection to social and wellbeing support and aimed to provide that.
Today the website provides access to a wide range of support services in the wider Waikato and Bay of Plenty communities. Anyone can submit a request for assistance online, regardless of whether you are isolating due to Covid-19 or not. Options include mental health support, food parcels and collection services, and prepared meals for isolating household. Remember, we all need help sometimes. It’s okay to reach out and I encourage you to do so.
A stolen race car and trailer were recovered thanks to social media exposure. Social media is a very powerful tool and certainly can be helpful . If you do come across any vehicle you believe is stolen, please remember to phone 111 directly. Offenders and other involved/stolen vehicles may still be present in the area, associated to the crime. Any forensic evidence can also be retrieved while keeping contamination to a minimum.
In the early hours May 12, a custom trailer containing a race car and associated accessories was stolen in a burglary at a commercial premises in Carter’s Flat.
The matter was reported to police and the owners utilised social media to help publicise the theft. A member of the public recognised the trailer from the post as one parked on a road in Hamilton. They alerted the owner and it was successfully retrieved. Police were contacted, a forensic examination conducted and enquiries are ongoing.
We have had a few burglaries in the Carter’s Flat commercial area. We ask all businesses to be vigilant around security and removing the opportunity for theft.
As I have said before, crime prevention and detection is a joint effort between Police and the community. The more eyes and ears we have reporting suspicious behaviour, the more effective we can be in our response. If it doesn’t seem legit, it probably isn’t, so let us know. Phone 111 at the time.
Keep safe and have a good week.
