Sergeant Damon O’Shaughnessy has spent the last fourteen years with New Zealand Police, solely in the Counties Manukau West area, covering the South Auckland suburbs of Otahuhu, Mangere and Papatoetoe. Since 2020 he has led the Otahuhu Prevention Team, focussed on activities that prevent crime and harm, and lead to safe communities. He enjoys the problem solving elements of addressing community concerns and the rewarding nature of policing in general. Most recently this culminated in leading a prevention project to address chronic vehicle crime at Middlemore Hospital, a project that won one of three national awards for problem orientated policing.
Presentation
Taking A Problem-Solving Approach To Chronic Vehicle Crime At An Auckland Hospital Carpark
Mr Brian Williamson1, Sgt Damon O’Shaughnessy1
1NZ Police, , New Zealand
Middlemore in Ōtāhuhu, Counties Manukau, Auckland, is the largest public hospital in Aotearoa with parking for 665 visitors and 1632 staff. In 2023, scanning revealed that 174 vehicles had been stolen over the past three years. Most offenders were youth and Police believed that offenders were catching the (free) train to the hospital car park. Analysis included Intelligence interviews with offenders and visits to the hospital carparks, which revealed that it was easy to steal vehicles. It was hypothesised that Middlemore hospital was perceived as a soft target with plenty of vulnerable vehicles. The response was implemented in one of the two carparks, while business-as-usual response was maintained in the second carpark that was used as a control. Evidence-based response activities were specifically selected for both their effectiveness and practicality as there was limited financial resources and time. Deterrent signage highlighting the presence of formal surveillance (CCTV) were put in place and plastic bollards were installed to prevent overcrowding of parked vehicles in areas of the carpark that were not legitimate parking spaces. This was designed to increase natural surveillance increasing guardianship and to generate a sense of order or maintenance throughout the carpark to reduce the number of potential targets. A full evaluation of the initiatives outcomes is due late 2024, however a preliminary assessment has used three months worth of post-intervention data to provide an indication of potential effectiveness, which showed a 57% reduced of stolen vehicles since the intervention was put in place.