A more than 900 per cent spike in police call-outs to just five Rotorua emergency housing motels can finally be revealed after the Ombudsman ruled data requested by Stuff a year-and-a-half ago, which the police admitted “paints a very unattractive picture”, should be released.

Back in January 2022, Stuff asked police to provide data on the number of times they had been called to five motels in 2016 – before their use for emergency accommodation – and also in 2020 and 2021.

Police declined to provide that information, citing privacy reasons and commercial interests.

Stuff referred the matter to the Ombudsman and more than 18 months later, it ruled police should hand over the data.

The numbers revealed that across five motels, which Stuff agreed not to name, there were just 46 call-outs over the whole of 2016.

That figure rocketed in 2020 to 259 call-outs, spiking again the following year to 491 call-outs.

From 2016 to 2021, that was a staggering 967 per cent increase in call-outs.

After investigating the matter the Ombudsman ruled that “New Zealand Police should not have refused the request”.

The written ruling also revealed police sought to keep the figures private as “the data paints a very unattractive picture” for the motels involved.

“This is particularly relevant given that MSD had engaged the services of significantly more motel service providers in the region,” says police.

Rotorua National MP Todd McClay blasts the initial police decision to keep the data covered up, and suggests political interference played a role.

“It should have been released straight away, however it's clear that police have been instructed to consult with the minister’s office on Official Information Act requests, so it would have ultimately been the government’s decision to withhold that information,” he says.

“This is the government that claimed it would be the most open and transparent government ever. Rotorua people now know the extent of the effect dumping homeless people in motels has had on our town.”

He also says he's “horrified” at the spike in call-outs revealed by the data.

“Behind each of them is likely to be a crime and a victim,” he says.

“It shows what local people have known for a long time, that crime and law and order exploded when the Government started using Rotorua as a dumping ground for homelessness.

“It’s important to note that many of the people the government was meant to be caring for in the motels, will have also been victims themselves as a result of this crime spike.

“It shows that the whole system failed and Labour made Rotorua and the lives of these people worse.”

For Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, the spike in call-outs “is not surprising given the significant amount of people who were placed in emergency housing motels over that time”.

She says work is underway to reduce the amount of people living in emergency accommodation in the holiday hotspot, and that she had “no doubt these motels caused this spike”.

Tapsell declined to comment on whether the police should have shared the data earlier.

Rotorua Area Commander Inspector Herby Ngawhika failed to respond to questions about why police opted to try and keep the data secret, but did reveal 70 per cent of the call-outs related to family violence.

Rotorua Police Area Commander, Inspector Herby Ngawhika, also declined to address questions about why police opted to try and keep the data under wraps.

However, he did note that 70 per cent of the call-outs were family harm related.

He also says the situation was greatly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This also brought about additional stresses on people who were already in a vulnerable position,” he says.

A promised response from the Police Minister’s office to questions about whether police were pressured into keeping the data secret failed to arrive.

Stuff also approached Rotorua-based Labour List MP Tamati Coffey who declined to comment.

-Benn Bathgate/Stuff.