Kia Ora whanau,

Busy last couple of weeks with winter well and truly upon us.

An update from the last issue, the search warrant mentioned in relation to the burglaries has resulted in the arrest of two young men and charges laid. Great work, if I do say so myself.

Continuous reports of people doing burnouts at Eely Point. With newly installed cameras in the area, it’s looking likely we’ll be able to capture their darling wee faces and hold these people to account.

A noticeable decrease in shoplifting which is a great outcome and shows our zero-tolerance stance is having an impact.

A reminder: colder weather requires a more cautious approach to early morning and evening travel. Increase your following distances to account for possible road imperfections and other driver's lack of experience.

A driver was apprehended after he drove into a parked utility on Aubrey Road, similarly, another traffic crash occurred on Cardrona Valley Road where a utility vehicle completed an unconventional manoeuvre and drove through a fence to stop. To top off the trifecta, a two-vehicle collision occurred at the bottom of Anderson Road at the roundabout. All parties walked away unscathed but this serves as a reminder to be cautious.

A number of youths were arrested, and pepper sprayed as a result of disorderly behaviour at an out-of-control party over the weekend. The party was meant to only be 40 people but that number very quickly grew to infinity and beyond, oop, wrong blog, 100 + attendees. A reminder to parents, regardless of your uber-responsible teenagers, their friends may not be so mature... or they’re actually very mature (old), and that’s a whole other problem.

In a separate incident involving our wee cherubs, a group of young boys went to an address and knocked numerous times over the period of an hour late at night. Understandably, this caused the occupants to become frustrated and notify police.

A domestic incident occurred at an Air BnB which ended with an arrest after the male party took it upon himself to redecorate the address. He did this without approval and caused tens of thousands worth of damage; crime doesn’t pay but he will.

A farewell for us, Senior Constable Greg Nolet is off to the big city where he hopes to impart his wisdom to the next generation of police. Greg has contributed a lot to the community throughout his 15 years (I think) of policing in Wānaka and he will be sorely missed by the station. Christchurch will be gaining some much sought-after experience and are lucky to have ya, all the best and thank you.