Eastern District Police are continuing efforts in the cyclone-hit region, including conducting 2028 reassurance patrols to help keep people and property safe.
As of 2pm Sunday, there had been 6431 reports of uncontactable people registered and 3216 reports from people registering that they are okay.
People who have now been in touch with someone previously reported uncontactable are urged to update their status through 105 online, so police can prioritise those who need the most urgent checks.
"As communications come back on, and police's dedicated teams work to reconcile various reports made, we can expect these numbers to fluctuate," says a police spokesperson.
"A total of 120 frontline staff have now come into Eastern District from other parts of the country, to support local staff in a range of frontline capacities.
"This additional resource includes the Police Eagle helicopter which has been in the district since Friday."
In coming days, police will deploy another approximately 25 staff to the district, including iwi and community liaison officers to support reassurance and prevention work.
Since Tuesday, February 14, police staff have conducted more than 2000 reassurance jobs across the District.
In Hawke's Bay there have been 1345 reassurance jobs including road and foot patrols, road safety checks, and Police presence at essential facilities.
There have been 683 reassurance jobs conducted in Tairawhiti.
Police are also continuing to hold offenders to account. Since Tuesday Police have arrested 42 people for various offences in Hawke's Bay and 17 in Tairawhiti.
"Frustratingly, rumours and false information is being spread across our communities, and only serves to make vulnerable people feel even more unsafe.
"As well, each false rumour that requires investigation is taking Police staff away from the important work they are doing.
"Police are confident there is sufficient staff in Eastern District to manage both the emergency response and routine policing, and we continue to monitor what is required."
2 comments
Looters
Posted on 20-02-2023 07:26 | By Thats Nice
If there are sufficient Police in place, then why are the locals having to set up roadblocks to protect their possessions from the low life looters?
Covid
Posted on 22-02-2023 12:40 | By Slim Shady
We had no hesitation, nor any shortage of personnel, whether Police or Defence Force, when it came to guarding MIQ prisons, internal borders and checkpoints and crushing people who objected to losing their livelihood. No, get stuck into those people. Looters? Nah, softly softly.
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