Police across Tamaki Makaurau will today launch Operation Dukan which will aim to engage with small business owners in the dairy and alcohol retail sector and provide them with prevention advice and support.
Inspector Nga Wati Chaplow says police are aware that the retail community has been shaken by recent robberies across Auckland and we want to reassure them that we are hearing their concerns.
“We will have 15 officers working full time for the next three weeks to engage dairy and liquor store owners. We will provide them with a safety audit of their premises and discuss what options are available to them. This could include installing CCTV cameras, better lighting or even rearranging their store.”
“We will be also utilising our ethnic officers who speak either Hindi and or Punjabi to ensure our messaging is well communicated to the owner, family and staff members. The reason we are doing this is we have found that members of our Indian community have been over-represented as victims in these types of offences,” Inspector Chaplow said.
Operation Dukan was fiirst run in Counties Manukau in 2009 and again in 2014 engaging with almost 300 business owners.
“Those retailers who took part in the Counties Manukau operation said they found it to be extremely useful and it further enhanced their relationship with police. We look forward to carrying this operation out across Tamaki Makaurau and further engaging with dairy and liquor store owners,” Inspector Chaplow said.