The police Eagle helicopter has temporarily returned to Christchurch.

Canterbury district commander Superintendent Tony Hill told chrislynchmedia.com “I can confirm Christchurch police are utilising Police’s Eagle helicopter today, as part of our continued focus on tackling the impact youth can have on retail crime and vehicle theft.

“People in Christchurch can expect to see it flying over the next few days.

“It’s a national resource that, from time to time, we will bring to Christchurch to support our focus on keeping our communities safe.

We thank residents for their patience, as we work towards making our city safer” Hill said.

Earlier this week in a wide ranging regular interview with Chris Lynch, 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.”