Auckland residents say they are afraid to go out at night after two suspected homicides in the city on the same day.
A man and a woman were arrested following the death of a 70-year-old man at an Upper Queen Street apartment yesterday afternoon.
Hours later, a 19-year-old was arrested after the death of a person at the Off Broadway Motel in Epsom.
They each appeared in the Auckland District Court today charged with murder and were remanded in custody to reappear next month.
Meanwhile, residents grappled with the aftermath. A contractor drinking coffee opposite the scene on Upper Queen Street described seeing the victim.
"I think he was lying down in the lobby," he said. "We tried to help the ambulances when they arrived, but nobody was allowed to go inside."
His colleagues worked around the yellow tape left by police.
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He said authorities had to step it up. "They're not tough on the criminals at the moment," he said.
One of his colleagues said they were no strangers to crime, but murder was on another level.
"It's the first time we've had something this bad happen so close to our site," he said. "We've had other things like thefts and all of that, but nothing this serious."
He said something had to change. "Crime's getting terrible in Auckland," he said.
"Every other day you hear about a shooting or a gang fight or something like that, it needs to be sorted out."
A North Shore resident visiting the city said she and her family would never visit at night. "At night, we're afraid come to here," she said. "Very afraid."
Residents of Epsom were similarly anxious after a person died at the Off Broadway Hotel.
Around the corner, students were on their way to the nearby Epsom Girls' Grammar and Diocesan high schools.
One resident feared for their safety. "A lot of families live in Epsom, a lot of school children," she said. "It's much more alarming when it's local."
She was also afraid to walk alone at night. "If I'm out at night I'm with my husband or friends or family," she said. "At daytime, I feel safe [alone]."
Another resident worried about the social factors driving young people to commit violent crimes.
"It just makes me wonder about the 19-year-old," he said. "What caused that sort of thing, what sort of trauma they were suffering and how they got to do such a thing."
He said authorities were not doing enough to address those factors.
"The whole slide into this sort of crime, ram raids and stuff like that, says something about what we're not doing in our society.
"I reckon we've got to think about that widening gap."
Another hoped to see more police on the street. "Like a lot of people, I think we should have police on the beat and visible in the city."
Youth worker calls for early intervention
Auckland youth worker Aaron Hendry said he understood why people were anxious, but he said a tougher approach could cause more harm than good.
"There's definitely that anxiety and fear, and there's a perception that tougher penalties and more police will keep us safer.
"The reality is, assuming we look at the evidence, that mechanism of the justice system that acts in a really punitive way doesn't keep us safer."
Hendry said heavy-handed responses to crime could push recovering criminals to reoffend.
"We drag people into that court system, and that system itself causes further harm.
"Those individuals who go through that system end up coming out again and there's no healing, so there's risk of more crime occurring."
Early interventions with at-risk youths, before they are driven to violence, would be the most effective way to reduce crime in Auckland, he said.
"If we really want some change, what I'd say is we need to look at how to do early intervention well," he said. "How do we respond to those basic needs and ensure that people who are in a vulnerable space are getting the support they need?"
Hendry said police were frequently called to situations a mental health professional would be better equipped to handle.
"[We need] resources in our local communities so we're not relying on the blunt instrument that can be the police."
The defendants in both cases have been remanded in custody and are expected to reappear in Auckland High Court next month.
