Gary Anderson feels right at home.
Newly promoted sergeant Gary Anderson, who has spent recent years based out of Hamilton as a roading officer, has been appointed as the senior officer at Te Kūiti.
Anderson was in the front line working out of the Te Kūiti station between 2007 and 2017 but went onto highway patrol work about seven years ago.
He returned to Te Kūiti at the beginning of this year.
The appointment announced last week ends a period in which acting sergeants have been in charge at Te Kūiti following the retirement of long-serving Craig Lindstrom in 2023.
“For me it just feels like a home coming considering the years as I have previously lived in town,” Anderson said.
“It’s a wonderful community and I’ve enjoyed watching it grow over the years. It’s got wonderful people and there are some awesome businesses here too. I’m not the only one to have concluded it’s a great place to both live and work.”
He said links forged between townsfolk and police had always been strong.
“During my time I’ve been able to get to know and establish relationships with many members of the public plus the business owners. This (interaction) goes a long way towards helping us serve the community better. People are always having a little chat; there’s useful information to be received simply by having a chat.”
Anderson was asked about the public meetings held in Te Kūiti last year in which residents complained about unruly dirt bike riders and boy racers causing a nuisance.
“The dirt bike riders are a national problem. It’s a trend being seen in many towns and there is a real copycat factor at work as some individuals seek to emulate what goes on elsewhere.”
As for car incidents, he considered the boy racer gathering in Hamilton earlier this month was atrocious.
“This has had some feedback into our community here but we’re hoping its now on the wane.”
How much work was generated by the travelling public on SH3?
“We do get an influx over the weekends, especially during the winter with people on their way to the skifields. But traffic volumes dropped off a lot after Covid and have probably not risen to pre-Covid levels. Perhaps its due to there being less to spend on road trips due to the cost of living.
“With SH1 now repaired and re-aligned quite a bit of pressure has been taken off our state highways; we have noticed a lot more Auckland ski traffic seems to be going toward Taupō to access the mountain. Fridays, Sundays and especially long weekends are always going to be busy for us. You’ll see a greater police presence during those times due to greater traffic flows.”
He said there was more than one approach to policing, especially in rural areas.
“If somebody has done something wrong, we are definitely going to hold them to account. But sometimes this can involve having a conversation with somebody. Sometimes interaction with a police office is enough to deter somebody from doing something again, where possible it’s certainly the approach I prefer.”
