Fear, frustration grips diary, retail operators
Krishna Jewellery in Papatoetoe is the latest retail store to be burgled after similar incidences of theft and burglary at other locations in Auckland last week that is reinforcing a sense of fear, helplessness, and frustration within retail outlets.
It was the third retail outlet, owned and operated by the members of the Kiwi-Indian community after two stores (Snap deal bizarre and Fume Shisha) were burgled in Sandringham last week with goods worth tens of thousands of dollars being taken away, leaving the small businesses with deep financial wounds, along with the frustration of not being adequately supported.
Notably, new figures released by the police under the Official Information Act and published in Stuff showed within the first 11 months of 2021, dairy and convenience store theft was up 30 percent on 2020 figures, and burglaries were up nearly 20 percent.
The retail offences witnessed an increase of 25.8 percent in the Auckland region.
Indian Weekender spoke with businesses operators, the staff, the leaders of the local business associations and other community groups to understand their level of frustration.
In Papatoetoe, the owners and staff at the Krishna Jewellers declined to speak to media as they were busy cleaning the shop after the mayhem witnessed late at night where a group of six or seven young adults barged into the shop after breaking the glass doors and helped themselves away with goods.
Gurjeet Singh, a local retailer in the neighbourhood and the president of Auckland Indian Retailers Association Incorporated, told Indian Weekender that the owner of Krishna Jewellery store was alerted by security alarm at the shop around 2 am and immediately reached the store within fifteen minutes.
He witnessed a group of seven young adults leaving the shop casually without any sense of urgency or fear, leaving him shell shocked with their sheer audacity.
Speaking further about the perceived sense of violation felt by the owners of Krishna Jewellers and other retailers, Singh further said, “Undeniably, financial loss is the biggest loss after every such incidence of crime on retailers within the community, but the sense of violation, the sense of fear and the sense of being not adequately supported by the police and other agencies are the biggest pain point for the retailer community.
“We constantly organise meetings and try to reach out to the police to work out a plan that could result in the more visible presence of the police in the neighbourhood, but nothing happens on the ground,” Singh said.
“As small business operators, we work very hard, for long hours, to provide service in the local community and the incidences like this, added with active support from the police and the justice system, causes a lot of frustration.”
Sunny Kaushal, President of Crime Prevention Group, and Chairman of the Dairy and Business Owners Group, said, “There is a huge spate in crime. Every day, I hear about incidences of a number of robberies, burglaries, assaults and threats of use of the knife. So, it tells us that a sense of lawlessness is gripping not only in Auckland but entire NZ.”
“This increase in the incidences of crime on retail operators have gone up in the recent period of one year or so, and we appeal to the police, the Minister of Police and Justice to do something urgently before something bad happens in the community,” Kaushal said.
“Currently, there is a feeling that the government is soft on crime and law and order and victim’s welfare is not put ahead of other concerns in tackling this situation.
“We need to understand that the government had promised to add 1800 frontline police officers, which has yet not been completed. Moreover, the police has been continuously deployed in other activities, including managing the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities leaving less resources on the ground to provide a sense of security and safety to small businesses who are facing the brunt of the recent spate in crime on retailers,” Kaushal added.
Frustrated over lack of post-crime incidence support
Echoing the sense of frustration with the increase in burglaries, Himanshu Batra, owner of Fume Shisha store in Sandringham, which has been burgled twice in the last two weeks, incurring a loss of more than $40,000, said, “We were able to provide police with ample proof and evidence available on social media about the whereabouts of our stolen goods in less than 12 hours, but the police expressed their inability to forfeit and recover those goods for us sighting lack of enough evidence.
“I told police that I am one of the only few importers of those goods and have a designated seal marked in those goods that can easily be verified from other evidence and requested to first seize the stolen goods before it was disposed of away,” said Batra who has copped a financial bill of more than $40,000 as the vaping product was not covered under insurance.
“We are seriously appalled by the response and support that we found was missing to help us through the post-crime situation. We are literally left on our own and bear all costs and troubles of being a small business operator,” a clearly frustrated Batra said.
Similarly, the staff in Smart Deal Bizarre – a store in Sandringham that was robbed with knife-wielding burglars – told Indian Weekender that there was no support and reassurance from the police about increasing visibility in the neighbourhood.
Krishna Jewellery in Papatoetoe is the latest retail store to be burgled after similar incidences of theft and burglary at other locations in Auckland last week that is reinforcing a sense of fear, helplessness, and frustration within retail outlets.
It was the third retail outlet, owned and...
Krishna Jewellery in Papatoetoe is the latest retail store to be burgled after similar incidences of theft and burglary at other locations in Auckland last week that is reinforcing a sense of fear, helplessness, and frustration within retail outlets.
It was the third retail outlet, owned and operated by the members of the Kiwi-Indian community after two stores (Snap deal bizarre and Fume Shisha) were burgled in Sandringham last week with goods worth tens of thousands of dollars being taken away, leaving the small businesses with deep financial wounds, along with the frustration of not being adequately supported.
Notably, new figures released by the police under the Official Information Act and published in Stuff showed within the first 11 months of 2021, dairy and convenience store theft was up 30 percent on 2020 figures, and burglaries were up nearly 20 percent.
The retail offences witnessed an increase of 25.8 percent in the Auckland region.
Indian Weekender spoke with businesses operators, the staff, the leaders of the local business associations and other community groups to understand their level of frustration.
In Papatoetoe, the owners and staff at the Krishna Jewellers declined to speak to media as they were busy cleaning the shop after the mayhem witnessed late at night where a group of six or seven young adults barged into the shop after breaking the glass doors and helped themselves away with goods.
Gurjeet Singh, a local retailer in the neighbourhood and the president of Auckland Indian Retailers Association Incorporated, told Indian Weekender that the owner of Krishna Jewellery store was alerted by security alarm at the shop around 2 am and immediately reached the store within fifteen minutes.
He witnessed a group of seven young adults leaving the shop casually without any sense of urgency or fear, leaving him shell shocked with their sheer audacity.
Speaking further about the perceived sense of violation felt by the owners of Krishna Jewellers and other retailers, Singh further said, “Undeniably, financial loss is the biggest loss after every such incidence of crime on retailers within the community, but the sense of violation, the sense of fear and the sense of being not adequately supported by the police and other agencies are the biggest pain point for the retailer community.
“We constantly organise meetings and try to reach out to the police to work out a plan that could result in the more visible presence of the police in the neighbourhood, but nothing happens on the ground,” Singh said.
“As small business operators, we work very hard, for long hours, to provide service in the local community and the incidences like this, added with active support from the police and the justice system, causes a lot of frustration.”
Sunny Kaushal, President of Crime Prevention Group, and Chairman of the Dairy and Business Owners Group, said, “There is a huge spate in crime. Every day, I hear about incidences of a number of robberies, burglaries, assaults and threats of use of the knife. So, it tells us that a sense of lawlessness is gripping not only in Auckland but entire NZ.”
“This increase in the incidences of crime on retail operators have gone up in the recent period of one year or so, and we appeal to the police, the Minister of Police and Justice to do something urgently before something bad happens in the community,” Kaushal said.
“Currently, there is a feeling that the government is soft on crime and law and order and victim’s welfare is not put ahead of other concerns in tackling this situation.
“We need to understand that the government had promised to add 1800 frontline police officers, which has yet not been completed. Moreover, the police has been continuously deployed in other activities, including managing the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities leaving less resources on the ground to provide a sense of security and safety to small businesses who are facing the brunt of the recent spate in crime on retailers,” Kaushal added.
Frustrated over lack of post-crime incidence support
Echoing the sense of frustration with the increase in burglaries, Himanshu Batra, owner of Fume Shisha store in Sandringham, which has been burgled twice in the last two weeks, incurring a loss of more than $40,000, said, “We were able to provide police with ample proof and evidence available on social media about the whereabouts of our stolen goods in less than 12 hours, but the police expressed their inability to forfeit and recover those goods for us sighting lack of enough evidence.
“I told police that I am one of the only few importers of those goods and have a designated seal marked in those goods that can easily be verified from other evidence and requested to first seize the stolen goods before it was disposed of away,” said Batra who has copped a financial bill of more than $40,000 as the vaping product was not covered under insurance.
“We are seriously appalled by the response and support that we found was missing to help us through the post-crime situation. We are literally left on our own and bear all costs and troubles of being a small business operator,” a clearly frustrated Batra said.
Similarly, the staff in Smart Deal Bizarre – a store in Sandringham that was robbed with knife-wielding burglars – told Indian Weekender that there was no support and reassurance from the police about increasing visibility in the neighbourhood.
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