Preventing Crime
Crime harms and affects many people in New Zealand, and is an issue for our communities in the Hutt Valley. Safe Hutt Valley wants to prevent crime and reduce the harm it causes by working with young people and promoting safer communities in the Hutt Valley.
What you can do Our work Who’s involved? Other programmes
What you can do
Our work
Safe Hutt Valley and its partners are involved in a range of long-term programmes that help to build safer communities in the Hutt Valley. These include:
Graffiti removal
Both Hutt City and Upper Hutt City Councils work to prevent and remove graffiti in the Valley, using the STOP Tags system. To find out more and to report graffiti in Hutt City, visit the Hutt City Council website for further information.
Neighbourhood Support
Safe Hutt Valley supports the work of Neighbourhood Support in the Hutt Valley. Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust coordinates the Neighbourhood Support programme across the Hutt Valley, with dedicated coordinators based in Wainuiomata and Upper Hutt. To find out more, or to set up a Neighbourhood Support group, contact Hutt Safe City Charitable Trust at nsgroup@xtra.co.nz. Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust provides all Neighbourhood Support groups with a start-up pack full of lots of advice and resources for keeping yourself and your neighbourhood safe.
Junior Neighbourhood Support
Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust promotes the Junior Neighbourhood Support programme in the Hutt Valley area. The aim of this programme is to promote a sense of pride, safety and community spirit in children and their wider school community. To find out more or to get your school involved, please contact Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust at nsgroup@xtra.co.nz.
Community Patrols
Community Patrols are groups of volunteers who help to maintain the safety of the Hutt Valley, by patrolling their local communities and reporting any issues to the Police, the Councils and local businesses. The Hutt Valley currently has six active Community Patrols operating in Petone, Wainuiomata, Naenae, Taita, Stokes Valley and Upper Hutt. A Hutt City patrol is also being developed. Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust coordinates the work of the community patrols in the Hutt Valley. To find out more or to volunteer, contact the Trust at nsgroup@xtra.co.nz.
Safe City Ambassadors in Hutt City
Hutt City Council contracts Safe City Ambassadors to do foot patrols of the city – to promote safety and to help people with any issues or enquiries. The Safe City Ambassadors are equipped with range of helpful brochures, maps and cards to give out to people and are easy to spot in their high-visibility vests.
CCTV cameras
Both Upper Hutt City Council’s and Hutt City Council’s networks of CCTV cameras are monitored by volunteers in three hour shifts, covering a variety of times and days. Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust coordinates the volunteers – contact the Trust at nsgroup@xtra.co.nz to find out more or to get involved.
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is about making sure the design of public spaces promotes positive community interaction, and reduces the fear and incidence of crime. Both Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council apply CPTED principles to the design and maintenance of public spaces in their areas.
Safe Hutt Valley Community Van
Safe Hutt Valley and partners have a dedicated community van that allows us to offer a range of services and events right in the heart of our communities; bringing people together and promoting safer neighbourhoods. The van is fitted out as a mobile office with a meeting table, and comes with a BBQ, TV and display areas to allow it to be used for a range of purposes. To find out more about the van or for booking enquiries, contact the Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust at nsgroup@xtra.co.nz.
We also initiate and run a range of targeted projects to address specific concerns within our communities. These include:
TOP (Together Our Place) Timberlea
A project to improve connections, safety and resilience in the Upper Hutt suburb of Timberlea. In 2013, the project team surveyed Timberlea residents on the strengths and needs within the community, including safety issues. Alongside the Timberlea community, the project team is working to address community needs by coordinating a community newsletter and neighbourhood events, increasing engagement with kindergarten and school families, and raising awareness of family violence prevention.
Neighbours Day Aotearoa events
Getting to know your neighbours is a great way to promote safe communities, so Safe Hutt Valley partners support annual Neighbours Day Aotearoa events across the Hutt Valley. Neighbours Day Aotearoa is a national, multi-agency campaign that aims to get all kiwis to go one step further in getting to know their neighbours on one day (weekend) of the year. Driven by the simple belief that great neighbours make great neighbourhoods, the NDA campaign is about turning streets into neighbourhoods, strangers into friends and turning every street in New Zealand into a fun, friendly, safe and resilient place to live. Check out www.neighboursday.org.nz for further information on the nationwide Neighbours Day Aotearoa campaign.
Raising Achievement Across our Youth Sector (RAAYS)
RAAYS is a system developed to support schools to deal with truancy. Truancy affects the whole community, and can be linked to negative outcomes in later life such as criminal activity, substance abuse, unemployment and mental health issues. Early intervention with truant students has been shown to be most successful, so Safe Hutt Valley partners are working alongside a number of Hutt Valley schools to get to grips with truancy effectively through the RAAYS programme.
Who’s involved?
Hutt Valley Police lead this work on behalf of Safe Hutt Valley. A number of other agencies, community groups and businesses are involved in these programmes and projects. The Safe Hutt Valley group welcomes contact from other organisations or individuals interested in promoting safer communities in the Hutt Valley. Please contact us if you are keen to get involved.
Other programmes and services helping to prevent crime in the Hutt Valley
Hutt Safe City Group Charitable Trust
National crime prevention services and programmes
Neighbourhood Support New Zealand
Crimestoppers – an independent charity that helps New Zealanders to fight crime by providing an anonymous and simple way to report crime.
Victims of Crime Information Line – phone 0800 650 654. Information on the range of services available to help you deal with the practical and emotional effects of the crime at each stage of the criminal and youth justice process.