Auckland mayor funds more guards after attacks on public transport

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has approved funding to support increased patrols by compliance officers amid a series of attacks on young people on the city’s public transport network.

Brown said recent initiatives had increased security in central Auckland, but added regular coordinated patrols were lacking outside the CBD, where public safety is also a major concern.

The guards, working in four teams of two, would deal with “low-level” anti-social behavior such as breaches of the liquor ban, obstruction and general nuisance.

Brown said he was “horrified” to learn of the assault of a teenager at New Lynn train station late last month.

“That is not acceptable.

“All Aucklanders should feel safe when they are in their local city center and using public transport.”

Patrols would be “mobile”, “evenly spread” across Auckland in areas identified as “hotspots” and could begin “as soon as Monday”, he added.

Brown said increased patrols were “just a stop-gap solution” and additional government resources across policing and mental health were needed to “make a long-term difference”.

The guards would be supervised by the Regional Compliance Team, who would provide support and guidance, direct staff and provide immediate response to live incidents.

The announcement comes as a bus drivers’ union organizer said the violence had reached a “critical point.”

Hayley Courtney, of First Union, said Breakfast bus drivers “live in fear”.

“Every day, they wake up in the morning or before their shifts, worried that they will never see their families again after they finish their driving duties.”

One teenage victim, who was attacked on a bus in Albany last month, told 1News: “It’s very stressful because we need to ride the bus, but we’re afraid to do it.

“I’m still in shock and can’t believe it happened, at all.”

AT public transport director Stacey van der Putten told Breakfast there are often many factors behind these incidents.

“What we’re seeing is a really complex social problem, especially among young people,” he said.

“I understand that as a mother of two teenagers, it’s really concerning that we’re seeing this and this increase.”