Wānaka Police have taken an unapologetically hard line on youth and alcohol, issuing twice as many infringements over this New Year period than last year.

Senior Sergeant Fiona Roberts said 132 alcohol related infringement notices were issued to minors over New Year.

She said despite a lot of prevention work from the Wānaka police team following last New Year, including visits to Christchurch schools to discuss alcohol harm and consent issues, there continued to be a “steady” trend of unsupervised young people.

Many of the minors under the influence of alcohol did not have parents in Wānaka, she said.

“We need cooperation from parents and other members of the community to make sure their kids are safe so it’s disappointing that parents of other children have taken that approach,” she said. 

“There has been a lot of blase and irresponsible parenting. Their safety dial is switched to low and it shouldn’t be.

“We would encourage anyone who is coming down here, bringing their children down here - or sending them here - to at least be on the same page as us around trying to keep them safe.”

She said police would “switch the dial up” on policing this issue if parents don’t cooperate.

Senior Sergeant Roberts said there had been no reports of assaults on women around the waterfront over New Year. She was aware of people being vigilant about their drinks being spiked.

“If there is stuff that has happened and people think the police are busy, yes we are, but there are ways to report it through calling 105. That’s a very easy way to report it. 

“We need to have a record of what goes on here.,” she said.

“The next step is we assess what happened this year, look at where we were this time last year and what further work needs to be done to keep the community safe during this event.”

Other incidents

On Tuesday (January 2) police attended a disorder call out in Lake Hāwea where visitors to the area were doing burnouts. There were no reports arising directly from the Wānaka Rodeo the same day.

There had been numerous car accidents over the past week, Senior Sergeant Roberts said, including one “conveniently outside the Wānaka police station”.

The car load of young people, some of whom were hanging out a car window, rear-ended a campervan after following too close.

Senior Sergeant Roberts reminded people that there are eight different speed limits in Wānaka. 

“We didn’t invent any of them, but we will police them,” she said, noting that the 40kph limit catches people out.

She also reminded people to be careful around out-of-town taxis.

“Be vigilant about whose vehicle you’re getting into and make sure they have the right credentials.”

A young visitor to Wānaka with a brain injury had come to the attention of members of the public and Senior Sergeant Roberts asked people to be patient with him if they come across him.

“He doesn’t belong at the police station. He’s not dangerous but he does come across as angry. If anyone has any concerns just let us know,” she said.

In general, Senior Sergeant Roberts advised people to be well prepared if they are “venturing out in our beautiful backyard”. 

“Make sure you have good forms of communication and make sure you tell people where you are,” she said.

Search and Rescue were active this morning (Wednesday January 3) when a person broke a finger while climbing Mount Aspiring. They were treated by St John.

Lost property galore

The Wānaka Police Watchhouse Officer told the Wānaka App there was a bumper lot of lost property at the station, including lots of drivers licences and other ID, wallets, phones, and jewellery.

The Wānaka App spoke to a local man who had lost his wallet and was surprised to discover that not only had it been dropped into the police station “really quickly”, but it also still contained the money he had left in it. The Watchhouse Officer said this was usually the case.

She said items can be couriered to another police station for pick up if people have left town.

Call 111 when you need an emergency response from police, fire or ambulance.

Call 105 to report things that don’t need urgent police assistance.

Call *555 to report road incidents that are urgent but not life-threatening.

To make an anonymous crime report contact Crime Stoppers.

PHOTO: Supplied