Doesn't the shooting in Auckland overnight illustrate to you that the Police Ministers’ idea of getting volunteers to do patrols in Auckland CBD so police don’t have to is not only cooked, but also dangerous.

The latest from police is that these guys didn’t know each other and got into a verbal altercation on Fort Street.

Next minute, got into a physical altercation, and next minute one chap pulls out a gun and shoots one bloke in the abdomen, another in the head, and then takes off on a Lime scooter. 

For a start, do they really think that people that are prepared to shoot at each other are gonna be put off by a couple of volunteers patrolling the street? 

But even to the point... do we really want to those volunteers walking into a situation like that?

Imagine just for a second, that a couple of Maori wardens came across those men rumbling last night. 

What if they tried to break up the fight where one of those guys had a concealed gun?

I don’t want to send Maori grandmas and granddads into that, that's nuts. 

It’s crazy that the Police Minister even thought this was feasible. 

Police are doing a valiant job of trying to tell Aucklanders that there’s nothing to worry about today. 

But you’d have to be living under a rock not to notice the increase in violent crime in that part of the city lately; this is the second shooting in two weeks.

It comes after a mass brawl of multiple people laying into one guy on the waterfront in May, and it comes after kids with hammers held up a jewellery store on Queen Street. 

Police Minister Ginny needs to get with the page.

We need more cops. 

Remember those 1800 extra police were recruited to fill a gap that existed in 2017 already. 

That was before Labour emptied the prisons. 

That was before hundreds more 501s arrived here. 

It was before the Comancheros even set up a chapter in NZ. 

Six years on and a heck of a lot more crime, we need more police patrolling Auckland’s CBD, and everywhere else.

We do not need grannies and grandads trying to break up fights, and I’d bet you that even Ginny realised that after last night. 

Doesn't the shooting in Auckland overnight illustrate to you that the Police Ministers’ idea of getting volunteers to do patrols in Auckland CBD so police don’t have to is not only cooked, but also dangerous.
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">The latest from police is that these guys didn’t know each other and got into a verbal altercation on Fort Street.
Next minute, got into a physical altercation, and next minute one chap pulls out a gun and shoots one bloke in the abdomen, another in the head, and then takes off on a Lime scooter. 
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}">For a start, do they really think that people that are prepared to shoot at each other are gonna be put off by a couple of volunteers patrolling the street? 
But even to the point... do we really want to those volunteers walking into a situation like that?
Imagine just for a second, that a couple of Maori wardens came across those men rumbling last night. 
What if they tried to break up the fight where one of those guys had a concealed gun? 
I don’t want to send Maori grandmas and granddads into that, that's nuts. 
It’s crazy that the Police Minister even thought this was feasible. 
Police are doing a valiant job of trying to tell Aucklanders that there’s nothing to worry about today. 
But you’d have to be living under a rock not to notice the increase in violent crime in that part of the city lately; this is the second shooting in two weeks.
It comes after a mass brawl of multiple people laying into one guy on the waterfront in May, and it comes after kids with hammers held up a jewellery store on Queen Street. 
Police Minister Ginny needs to get with the page.
We need more cops. 
Remember those 1800 extra police were recruited to fill a gap that existed in 2017 already. 
That was before Labour emptied the prisons. 
That was before hundreds more 501s arrived here. 
It was before the Comancheros even set up a chapter in NZ. 
Six years on and a heck of a lot more crime, we need more police patrolling Auckland’s CBD, and everywhere else.
We do not need grannies and grandads trying to break up fights, and I’d bet you that even Ginny realised that after last night.

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.