Canterbury’s top police officer says the opening of the One New Zealand Stadium has gone better than expected, while warning drivers to prepare for dangerous winter road conditions and flagging early progress in a pilot programme targeting repeat youth offenders.

Superintendent Tony Hill said more than 60,000 people attended the stadium across its first three days of operation and crowd behaviour had been very good, with anticipated post-event violence and vehicle break-ins largely not materialising.

“We expected to see that we might have some violence in the city afterwards with post-drinking and other events, vehicles being broken into, but by and large that hasn’t been any of that,” Hill said.

Police did engage with a number of people leaving the venue carrying open alcohol containers, which Hill said breached the inner city liquor ban that applies to the stadium precinct as it does to any licensed premises.

“A number of people were engaged with about the liquor ban and educated about the importance of making sure that those things don’t leave the venue,” he said.

He said most encounters were handled through education rather than enforcement, acknowledging police could not be everywhere given the scale of the event.

Hill said police had deployed a significant number of staff over the opening weekend given the uncertainty around what impact such a large crowd would have on the surrounding area.

On youth offending, Hill said a pilot programme had placed additional youth crime investigators and a dedicated prevention sergeant to work alongside non-government organisations addressing the root causes of reoffending.

The programme also involved close cooperation with Oranga Tamariki and the courts to find the most appropriate outcomes for young offenders.

He said frontline staff were already reporting a reduction in youth-related calls for service.

“We’ve now got a youth prevention sergeant who’s working with the non-government organisations who work with the wider family to actually address what are the things that have catalysed them going on and offend,” Hill said.

He said the seriousness of youth offending had increased over time, pointing specifically to violent attacks on dairy owners as part of the reason the pilot was established.

“We really really want to see a reduction in that serious crime,” he said. “The youth can be responsible for some of the more serious crimes in our communities and we wanted to address that and actually deter them away from that.”

Hill acknowledged the frustration felt by frontline officers who often had a good idea of who was responsible for repeat offending, but said he was impressed by how his staff handled those situations.

“They don’t get involved in pursuing a stolen vehicle if they think there’s going to be more risk or putting the community at more risk,” he said.

“There are ways that we can resolve those things without putting other people at harm’s way.”
He said apprehension rates were very high and large numbers of young people were being processed through the youth court.

On petrol drive-offs, Hill confirmed Canterbury recorded higher rates than other police districts but said a dedicated team reviewed offences daily and prosecution numbers were strong.

He said police tended to prioritise larger fuel thefts over drive-offs where there was a clear avenue of inquiry, such as camera footage in the area.

“We’ve got a team that go through the offences every day and look at those and try to work out where the repetitive ones are,” he said.

He said there was no clear evidence rising petrol prices had driven an increase in drive-offs, with figures remaining comparable to levels recorded two years ago, suggesting no direct correlation between cost of living pressures and that type of offending.

With winter approaching, Hill urged drivers to treat speed limits as a ceiling rather than a target and to think carefully about stopping distances and road conditions.

He said impairment through drugs or alcohol remained a leading factor in serious crashes alongside speed, and that winter conditions added further layers of risk.

“As we move into winter we need to be more mindful that roads are likely to be wet, and if you think about moving further away from the city into the Mackenzie Basin for example, those roads are going to be icy for long periods of the day,” he said.

He said police had a specific road policing deployment plan targeting high-risk times and locations, and that more officers would be visible on roads at certain times of day as conditions deteriorated.

Hill said police were also monitoring a national conversation around the speed and power of electric scooters, following concerns from members of the public about injuries to pedestrians on shared pathways. He said some scooters were capable of high speeds and were sometimes ridden in main traffic lanes rather than designated bike lanes.

“What we should be looking at is making sure that we educate people to use both those areas really safely,” he said.

He also warned people using social media platforms to meet others to carefully consider their safety, after two men were separately ambushed in Southland, following contact made through the hookup app Grindr. One victim was left in a critical condition.

“Consider the circumstances which they’re being asked to meet with other people and think about is that appropriate and how do they keep themselves safe,” Hill said.

He said such complaints were not common but could have devastating consequences when they did occur.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​