A public safety meeting about concerns over violence on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd has been shifted till later in the month to cater for people who are busy with the Pride Festival. Human Rights Commissioner Richard Tankersley will facilitate the evening, which will be held on Tues 26 February from 6-8PM at the Pitt Street Methodist Church. "This is an opportunity to raise awareness of the projects that are improving safety on Karangahape Road and its surrounding side streets, as well as raising our communities' awareness about safety as we head into the Auckland Pride Festival," say organisers Karen Ritchie of the Cartier Trust and Tom Hamilton of Rainbow Youth. They say the K' Rd Business Association and K' Rd Security will attend and "we aim to invite representatives of the NZ Police, NZ Police Diversity Liaison Officers, as well as local MPs and Local Government representatives." There has already been some discussion on the meeting’s Facebook page, including concerns from gay man Matthew Cook, who was assaulted on Mercury Lane walking to K’ Rd on December 27. “It was unprovoked. I needed stitches in my chin I had multiple fractures in my face and a two week long concussion,” he says. “The police have filed my report because there is nothing they can do to catch the person. I think they just put it in the too hard basket. “They have the details of the person who called the police that night, and this bystander was an acquaintance of the person who attacked me. Pretty simple to catch the person with this info I would have thought. Putting up CCTV on the surrounding side-streets would also make it a lot easier to gain a positive outcome too.” Anyone who wants to share anything, privately, that they would like mentioned at the meeting without their name being used can email Karen cartiertrust@xtra.co.nz or Tommy info@rainbowyouth.org.nz. Meanwhile police diversity liaison officers are collating information they received in a survey at the Big Gay Out about violence people have experienced, whether they reported it, and what their experience with police was like. The results will be used to inform police bosses that more effort and resources are required in this area.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 11th February 2013 - 12:29pm