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Archived Press Releases 2008 30th March 2008

Murdered tourist's Aunt to speak at meeting to reclaim Taupo

(30th March 2008)

The murder of a young tourist on the streets of Taupo has led to calls from the community to “Reclaim Taupo” and the Mayor has already announced he will listen to his community.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust in conjunction with the Taupo Council has organized a public meeting to be held in the Great Lake Centre at 5:30 pm tomorrow evening, it is hoped this meeting will give the Council a clear mandate to clean up crime on the streets of Taupo

Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said he had been approached by many people extremely concerned about the level of crime and the potential this had to destroy the livelihoods of thousands and the reputation of Taupo as a safe destination.

"Taupo is the hub of New Zealand’s tourist industry and is a very exciting destination with a fantastic future, but recent violent crimes have the potential to severely damage that.”

“Taupo is very fortunate to have a Mayor who is prepared to lead from the front. Rick Cooper is not backward in coming forward, and he calls a spade a spade and is prepared to do what needs to be done.”

The Mayor has already announced that the Council would like to establish a community Trust dedicated to reducing crime.

Mr McVicar said some of the ideas the Sensible Sentencing Trust would be promoting would include the Tent City Prison concept used in Arizona .

“To ultimately win the fight against crime it is imperative that minor crimes such as graffiti, car conversion or vandalism are dealt with swiftly and severely. The Arizona “Tent City ” model is a very affordable and effective option for dealing with entry level crime.

Our current youth system is totally inadequate for dealing with the persistent repeat offender so we will be promoting ideas that we believe are much more effective.”

“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility, an end to Home Detention for repeat offenders and no Bail for violent offenders are other ideas that will be discussed.”

Karen Aims' Aunt, Violet Perfect will address the meeting as will Simon Power, Mark Burton and Ron Mark who currently has a Bill before Parliament to lower the age of Criminal Responsibility.

The public meeting is in the Taupo Great Lake Centre at 5:30 pm tomorrow evening.

Regards,
Taupo Mayor Rick Cooper
027 4942362
John Funnell (Tourist operator)
021 733142

Garth McVicar
National Spokesperson,
Sensible Sentencing Trust.