Police teams in Taranaki have been assisting with the monitoring of people who use essential services in the community.
Pharmacies are an essential service and are operating with safe practises, part of which is to limit the number of people entering their premises and ensure distance is kept between individual shoppers.
They have been doing this with signage and by sectioning off parts of the shop but this can be difficult depending on the layout.
Taranaki Area Commander Inspector Belinda Dewar said, “I am pleased with how my staff have been handling reassurance checks at local pharmacies, a great example of staff going the extra mile is demonstrated in the feedback received by a locum currently working at a local pharmacy. This sort of policing activity goes a long way to increasing trust and confidence of our community. Our staff minimised the risk to people by reducing the number of people having to wait in line, while providing reassurance and assistance to those waiting."
Pharmacist from the Ducks Unichem, Mohamed Osman, said, “We are grateful for the time the police took to help out at our pharmacy earlier in the week. They went above and beyond, offering us support, sorting out the queues, sending the elderly home but then waiting to deliver the elderly their prescriptions after 7pm.
"I am a locum pharmacist with over 10 years’ experience and I would like to praise the efforts and acknowledge the hard work the police officers are doing to keep us safe. Thank you for showing us that we are not in this alone.”
“Taranaki Police Teams have also been visiting whanau the day after any reported family harm incident or if family harm incidents have been a regular occurrence at an address. The aim of the visit is to offer assistance, such as referrals to Oranga Tamariki, social workers or other external agencies. We hope this will prevent further family harm incidents and related harm," said Inspector Dewar.
“I believe these community visits have been successful and beneficial in terms of reassurance for all of our community and building trust and confidence. I encourage people to reach out if you’re struggling or you know people who are. Police and partner agencies will endeavour to help when and wherever we can.”
Of the Taranaki Policing staff, Inspector Dewar said, “I am really pleased with how Taranaki Police teams are not only working together and with our partners, but how they themselves are coping with the challenges and challenging environment that we continue to face. Their day-to-day commitment is quite remarkable.”
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre