Election 2023: Rotorua candidates respond to youth crime issues in the CBD – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

National will give police ‘’permission’’ to clean up Rotorua after two attacks on teenage girls – but Labour says it is not possible to “arrest our way out of this’’ and believes the causes of crime need to be addressed.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay and Labour rival Ben Sandford spoke out after the two attacks in the CBD in the past two weeks.

ACT Rotorua electorate candidate Marten Rozeboom believed a greater police presence would help reduce crime. Meanwhile, Te Pāti Māori Party candidate Merepeka Raukawa-Tait believed the community must do more than “express horror” and instead take action.

The comments come after a 13-year-old was left bloodied at an Arawa St bus stop after being punched by a stranger on Tuesday last week and a 15-year-old collapsed after being beaten on Monday on Haupapa St.

Police have referred three young people to Youth Aid and say they are maintaining an increased presence in the area where the attacks happened, near the Rotorua Library.

Mayor Tania Tapsell said the council was “determined to turn this around” and an inner city community safety hub would be established in about two months.

McClay told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend it was “horrifying” and “extremely sad for Rotorua” for violent crime to be happening in the CBD.

He criticised the …