 As the pressure mounts on police over crime in south Auckland,
an incident on Friday night highlights that police are struggling
to cope.
Roman Lomani did not expect to be the last line of defence
against aggressive criminals, but last Friday he found out he
was.
The Manukau security guard claims police did not respond to his
111 calls after he raced to the aid of a cafe owner who had been
confronted by three youths demanding money.
"I am very, very disappointed, he says, questionsing why the
police didn't turn up.
According to Lomani's incident report, one of the youths
attacked the guard and he defended himself by hitting back. The
youths then ran off, swearing and promising to return with a
gun.
The response to Lomani's 111 call was that police could not do
anything and if the youths returned, he should report the incident
again.
He was told the same thing in a second 111 call seven minutes
later.
"It was very, very serious ... everyone up here was very
disappointed," Lomani said.
The cafe owner says he feels unsafe after the incident.
"We call the police and ask for help but still nothing happen,"
says the cafe owner, who did not want to be named out of fear for
his personal safety.
Police say they did send two community crime officers, who could
not find the youths.
The timing could not be worse for police, who are already
feeling the heat after a march at the weekend by thousands
demanding safer streets, businesses and homes.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets in east Auckland to
campaign against violence targeted at the Asian community. The
march was sparked by three recent high profile killings.
March organiser Peter Low is calling for more help for Asians
feeling threatened in South Auckland.
The government says it has already acted by boosting police
ranks.
"It's a problem that's being addressed with more frontline
police officers (and) tougher sentencing," says Acting Police
Minister Phil Goff.
But the bigger challenge will be convincing South Aucklanders
that police will actually be there in their hour of need. TVNZ 07/07/2008
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