Police have released records of troublesome New Year’s hotspots in the Coromandel, showing more than 40 extra staff from the Waikato and Counties Manukau police districts were deployed in the 2023-24 New Year period to help tackle issues experienced in previous years.

The figures have been supplied to the Hauraki-Coromandel Post under an Official Information Act request.

Sergeant Greg Foster provided figures from midday December 31, 2023, until midday on January 1, 2024, and, for comparison, figures for the same time in the previous four years.

Hauraki-Coromandel Post launched the OIA after the Thames-Coromandel District Council was presented with a peak summer season report which included data on tourism and visitor spending, and correlating pressure on local infrastructure.

That report also included figures of the number of arrests made during the summer peak period of December 25, 2023, to January 5, 2024.

Figures provided by Foster show there had been 31 breaches of liquor ban offences and 27 arrests in Whangamatā for the past New Year period.

The figures provided as part of the OIA show the recent number of breaches of the liquor ban are down compared to previous years, while the number of arrests is similar.

In Whangamatā, over the 2022-23 New Year there were 79 breaches of the liquor ban, while in 2021-22 the number climbed to 95. In 2020-21 there were 66 breaches and 39 in 2019-20.

In Whitianga, there were five breaches over the recent New Year, 20 in 2022-23, 79 in 2021-22, six in 2020-21 in four in 2019-20.

Custodial records for the recent 2023-24 New Year showed police locked up 27 people in Whangamatā compared to 29 people in 2022-23, 21 people in 2021-22, 25 people in 2020-21 and 26 people in 2019-20.

The comparative numbers in Whitianga were two (2023-24), two (2022-23), one (2021-22), one (2020-21) and nil (2019-20).

In Whangamatā, over the 2022-23 New Year there were 79 breaches of the liquor ban.

The recorded offences from those held in custody included 16 for disorder and drugs, six for “incidents”, five for violence, three for traffic offences, one for sexual offences, one for dishonesty, one for “miscellaneous” and one for “tasks”.

In the council’s peak summer season report, police described the season as “well-behaved”.

Foster says: “Police in Whangamatā were looking at 60 to 70-plus arrests on New Year’s Eve circa 2017-18, hence the anecdotal commentary [of the public being well-behaved].

“Given the events in Whangamatā two years ago, this is a fair commentary.”

Meanwhile, the council’s peak summer season report noted different figures saying there had been 33 people arrested in Whangamatā “on New Year’s Eve alone”.

Foster says in 2023-24, extra police staff were deployed to the Coromandel area utilising staff from the wider Waikato District and support from the Counties Manukau Public Safety Unit.

There had been 27 arrests in Whangamatā for the past New Year period, Foster says.

“Not counting local staff, on the evening of December 31, 2023, an additional 44 staff were deployed throughout the Coromandel.”

For the whole 12 days of the peak summer season (December 25, 2023, to January 5, 2024), the council’s report noted 55 arrests in Whangamata, as well as 251 infringements and 152 warnings issued in regards to liquor ban breaches.

The report also stated that during the 12 days, a daily “partners briefing” was held at the Whangamatā police station where Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Hato Hone St John, the medical centre and council staff met with police to discuss day/night activities and strategies.

Foster says the daily partners briefing had been held in previous years.

“As with any large-scale police operation there was a debrief and learnings that will be used to determine how police deploy in 2024-25,” he said. “We won’t disclose these as it will compromise service delivery.”

-Hauraki-Coromandel Post.