Hawke’s Bay Crime Increase Update: Please Stay Alert
Over the past two days, HSM has responded to several serious incidents affecting businesses, while further theft and property damage have been reported throughout our wider community.
What we have seen:
During the early hours of Saturday morning, two monitored businesses in Napier were broken into. One business had its front door smashed, while the second sustained damage to the building with goods/stock stollen. Police & Guards attended both incidents.
On Tuesday morning, another monitored business was targeted by a group of four to five offenders. The group rushed the store shortly after a staff member arrived and disarmed the alarm, targeting cigarettes and other tobacco products. The owner managed to press the duress alarm releasing the fog cannon and alerting our team so that we could send the police and an HSM guard, but the offenders had left within minutes.
Within the wider community, there have also been reports of multiple vehicles being stolen or damaged around Palmerston Road and Brookvale in Havelock North. A local Hastings restaurant was also broken into over the weekend, with property stolen from the premises.
We are sharing this information to ensure our clients and wider community understand what has been happening and remain particularly aware when arriving at or leaving their workplaces. Please pay attention to unfamiliar people loitering nearby, suspicious vehicles and anything that appears unusual around your property.
Be aware when arriving and leaving
– Look for people loitering nearby or unfamiliar vehicles parked around the property.
– If possible, have two people present when opening or closing a business.
– Before entering, check for open or damaged doors, broken windows or other signs of forced entry.
– If something feels wrong, remain somewhere secure and do not enter or confront anyone.
– Keep unused doors, windows, gates and other access points locked wherever possible.
– Set your alarm whenever your home or business is unattended or closed.
– Avoid leaving valuables, keys, cigarettes, tobacco products or equipment visible from outside.
– Make sure vehicles are locked and keys are stored securely and out of sight.
Your alarm is an important first line of defence, helping detect an intrusion and raise an alert with our Monitoring operators so police and Guards can be dispatched immediately. CCTV provides an additional layer of protection by helping verify what has occurred, preserve useful footage and support in police investigations. Alarm & CCTV Monitoring combined, allow our operators to react in real time with a visual verification of the event. Visual verification of a live incident is also treated as P1 priority for police to attend and is your best line of defence.
Please remember:
If a crime is happening now, you see suspicious activity taking place or anyone is in immediate danger, call 111.
For non-emergency reporting, contact Police through 105.
If your alarm has activated and you feel unsafe, do not enter the property. Follow your agreed response procedure and call HSM on 0800 548 347. We can arrange for a guard to be dispatched if required.
As an additional option, HSM can arrange guard escorts for staff opening or closing business premises. If you require this service, please contact our team to discuss availability. Please stay alert, look out for one another and report suspicious behaviour.
Take care,
The HSM Team