Friday saw the return of fun and games with April Fools Day which often results in a few peculiar jobs for the girls & boys in blue, but it appears the pranksters were well behaved this year!

We attended two car crashes this week; the first involving a car towing a boat, and a vehicle travelling south at Makarora, and the second was a 4WD that lost control on loose gravel and rolled. Both crashes resulted in minor injury.

This week has seen an increase in family harm incidents. Once again the main contributing factor is alcohol. Often the call is from a nearby property after hearing the commotion. We

appreciate these calls which can be the difference between a minor incident rather than a serious assault.

If you hear something that does not sound right, please ring us.

On Thursday police arrested a person for 12 shoplifting incidents at our supermarkets. We have also had a couple of other reports of shoplifting from New World and Mitre 10 MEGA that we are investigating.

We are into the roar period for deer which tend to wander at this time of year. If you're travelling in darkness be mindful of what may be ahead.

The other issue associated with this period is poaching and shooting from vehicles. To hold a firearms licence is a privilege and any of the above will remove this in a heartbeat.

Opertation Deterrence is continuing for several more weeks. This operation is focused on seatbelts, cell phones and speed. There are a number of you that have contributed financially towards this operation and once you have collected four of the prizes you get to ride a bicycle for a few months.

Speaking of bikes, daylight saving has ended so if you’re still out and about on your bike at night make sure you have some lights sorted for it.

Computer scams continue to be the crime of choice for a number of low life thieves. Don’t give out any details, passwords or any other personal information. Even if it sounds really convincing it is likely to be “fake news”. If they say it’s your bank calling or it’s an internet provider telling you someone has hacked your computer, there should be alarm bells going off at your end. Hang up and ring your bank etc direct.

We have a regular flow of found property that arrives at the station. At the moment we have quite a collection of watches which I’m sure are missed, and more peculiar is the track for a Makita Track Saw which must have come off the roof of a tradies truck.

Enjoy the rest of the week and keep safe.