Jacqui Church: Waikato District Mayor discusses boy racer and police run-in at weekend

Concerns the Waikato's central location will continue to make it a popular location for boy racer "meets". 

It comes after four police vehicles were rammed, after a gathering on the northern reaches of Hamilton turned hostile over the weekend. 

Police have released images of a ute involved, and are seeking two people of interest. 

Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church told Mike Hosking some of the cars involved are coming from as far away as Taupo and Whangarei. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Not a classy weekend. Speaking of the road, but the
boy races raiming a series of police cars and Hamilton,
Waikato large gathering crowd being described as hostile and violent.
The district council mayor Jackie churches with us on this
Jackie morning, Good morning mate. You're sick of it like
everybody else. Absolutely what's happening here. It's one thing to gather,

(00:21):
it's another thing to be aggressive towards the police. There's
clearly no respect at all.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, i'd agree with that, I think, And I think
also it's usually a small number of people who are
actually lead leading those people. A lot of those people
just probably liked to go out and then cruise around
them hang out with their mates. But I think there's
some content around leadership of actually being anti government, anti
authority and just taking it to the next level of

(00:47):
gates police, which is absolutely shocking to see. It's concerning
for the local residents of wherever it happens to be
at the time. It's happening all over the waik and
the Waikido district, but it's also current intense of they're
attacking the police.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
I don't know whether I mean I'm sure it's nationwide
to a degree, but what is it about the whitecata
You seem to be the post to child for the
sort of behavior. What's going on? Do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, when we wik kind a district council of the
White Nicy why kind of region which the region has
five hundred thousand people, we've got about ninety thousand, but
our district council because we're between Auckland border and Hamilton,
which is the fastest growing to cities and New Zealand.
And you know, the through traffic along our state highway
is at the twenty thirty four rates, so we have

(01:33):
a huge amount of people who drive through. It's easily
accessible from those major centers. A lot of the people,
you know cars these days, they're coming from topol, they're
coming from further away, they're coming from from a down
you know. Social media these days means that we can
they can very quickly get together and change their plans
as to where they're going to meet and have multiple

(01:55):
people gathering together. I mean this started in the base
in Hamilton and then they've moved on from there by
the police and then ends up north of Hamilton, just
in hol tour just in our southern part of our district.
But this is happening all over the place.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
As far as you're concerned with the police doing their.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Job, absolutely, but also you know, if you got two
or three hundred people and cars, and even if you've
got six or seven police units, which I understand we're there,
the ratio and the danger to those police and we
already know that would nicely thankful that we actually didn't
have any injuries of the police, but four units are damaged.

(02:31):
You know, that's the cost and the danger. It's just
not okay. Let alone the concerns of the residents around
that area when they're seeing that massive of people congregating
and in their community.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Couldn't agree more. Jackie, Well done, Jackie Church. Not that
you can do anything about it, I don't know. It's
even the council's job, really, is it. I mean, apart
from expressing the frustration of the local community. Wykad District
Council made for more from the Mic Asking Breakfast.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
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