The bus hub between New Plymouth's Puke Ariki library and museum has seen a spate of anti-social behaviour. Photo: Robin Martin
It is not just big cities dealing with an upsurge in street crime - New Plymouth businesses are seeing everything from knife-fights organised on social media to brawling in the streets.
Last month, a 16-year-old was stabbed to death at a Dunedin bus hub, but New Plymouth locals were worried crime was on the rise there, too.
In the past two years, more than 30 people had been trespassed from a shared space in the CBD that has become notorious for trouble.
Wendy Ashton has owned Brougham Hairdressers & Gifts with husband Pierre since 2013.
Their business is adjacent to a pedestrianised zone in front of the Puke Ariki library and museum.
Anti-social behaviour in the area appeared to be getting worse, Ashton said.
Wendy Ashton has co-owned Brougham Hairdressers & Gifts - which is opposite Puke Ariki - since 2013. Photo: Robin Martin
"It seems to be a big thing at the moment of young kids carrying knives. We're talking 13-, 14-year-old kids carrying knives around with them, which is ridiculous. Why do they think they need to carry knives?
"A couple of weeks ago, a girl threatened that she was going to stab the security guard over at the library. It's happening all the time."
Another recent example of disorder was social media-driven, she said.
"There was a TikTok that went out the other day and that's why there was a lot of kids up on the steps because evidently there was going to be a fight with a knife.
"And with what's gone on down in Dunedin. it's just ridiculous. I think it's wrong things like that are happening in our community - in anybody's community."
The shared zone around Puke Ariki is adjacent to the inner city bus hub, where hundreds of school-aged teenagers pass through every day.
It was also a popular hangout for young people out of work but not in training, partly due to the availability of free wi-fi.
Rough sleepers also frequented the area, seeking shelter in the bus depot or under the library's awnings.
A restaurant supervisor - who RNZ agreed not to name - said sometimes things got out of hand.
"Four or five months ago ... maybe about 6 o'clock at night, we had two homeless people get attacked by two other homeless people and these guys had bats and knives and all sorts of stuff. Yeah, it was just a big brawl really."
He called in the police.
"That's probably the craziest thing I've ever seen in New Plymouth, to be honest. A knife, ... not a bat [but] it was more like ... some random big pole, but yeah, a big kitchen knife."
No one was injured in the scrap, the restaurant supervisor said.
"Ah no, I don't thing there was anything connecting and a lot of running going on."
Police officers arrest a man outside New Plymouth's Puke Ariki after he was allegedly waving around nunchucks. Photo: Robin Martin
While RNZ was visiting, police swooped on a man in the pedestrian zone.
He was eventually arrested behind Puke Ariki Museum.
A man who was allegedly displaying nunchucks is arrested near the bus hub. Photo: Robin Martin
Back at the barbershop, Pierre Ashton had the low-down.
"He has a set of nunchucks with him and he was throwing them around the place in a manner that wasn't really acceptable. He shouldn't have them anyway. And that's why the police were called."
Such incidents were not a daily occurrence, but happened regularly, he said.
New Plymouth District Council cultural experiences manager Zara Stanhope said over the past year there had been a concerning upsurge of anti-social behaviour at Puke Ariki, including aggression towards its staff.
"We take the safety of the public and our staff extremely seriously and actively try to manage the impact of this behaviour in a variety of ways, including having a security guard onsite during opening hours, with a second guard to be in place weekdays 2pm-6pm, on weekends and during school holidays."
The council was in daily contact with police who checked in with the guards and helped to manage any issues or incidents, she said.
"If we need to, we will ban or trespass people from the library and ask them to move on from the outside area or call the police."
The council had trespassed 32 people from the area over the past two years, Stanhope said.
"We share local businesses' concern and are doing what we can to mitigate the impact of this behaviour."
Senior Sergeant Kyle Davie - the police's Taranaki area manager for prevention - said like all major metro centres across the country, New Plymouth was not immune to anti-social or disorder-related incidents.
"When police are aware of or anticipate an increase in this behaviour, we deploy our staff accordingly to meet that demand. This can include community reassurance and visibility during times like the school holidays.
"We work closely with the New Plymouth District Council and other local partners to address and prevent these behaviours within the area, to ensure it remains safe for the entire community."
Out of the dozen or so incidents to date this year, many involved people who were known to each other, or instances where mental health was a contributing factor, Davie said.
"When items are found on a person during these incidents, the item is disposed of safely.
"Police will respond to incidents that have been reported to us, and we encourage members of the public to continue contacting us when they have concerns."
Members of the public who saw something happening that presented an immediate risk to safety should call police on 111 and report it, or call 105 if it was not an emergency or had already happened.
