Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young has criticised a supposed lack of nuance around the Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment, which is currently under review. The proposal includes penalties for non-compliance of up to $2,000 or three months' imprisonment.
Along with wanting to see those clauses removed, Young said that there are considerable concerns that this new bill would encourage police officers to move people from one retail store to another without addressing any underlying causes of the issue.
“Retailers in many urban centres are frustrated by ongoing problems with people outside their stores acting in a disruptive, disorderly, or threatening manner, which can make staff and customers feel unsafe,” Young said.
“We absolutely agree that police should have all the tools they require to act on these sorts of behaviours around retail and other premises.
“However, the Bill, as currently drafted, includes clauses that single out begging and rough sleeping. People who rough sleep or beg are not inherently disorderly or disruptive, and problem behaviour can be carried out by anyone, regardless of their financial or housing situation.”
Young suggested that, should these new powers come into effect, people who are sleeping rough may simply move from one retail location to another, creating a cyclical problem in which similar issues recur at a rotation of stores.
Police Association president, Steve Watt, said officers already have powers to address disorderly or offensive behaviours and that these issues do little to address the factors that drive this kind of offending, such as poverty, addiction, and mental health.
“While we appreciate the Government’s focus on helping retail in this area, without additional resourcing for police and social services, it’s not clear how effective proposed changes in this Bill will be,” he said.
Young echoed this sentiment, saying that with police resources already thin, it is unclear how these additional powers will affect the issue of crime targeting retailers in New Zealand.
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