Overwhelming response to virtual patrol

Nearly 45,000 people took to Twitter last night
to follow Bay of Plenty Police on a virtual ride-along with
an overwhelmingly positive response.

The patrol ran from
7pm to 2am providing a real time snapshot of policing across
Western Bay and advice to encourage safe celebrations.

The most retweeted event of the night was a car which
struck a house, knocked down a tree and landed on its roof
in Papamoa. Miraculously the driver and his passenger walked
away with relatively minor injuries. Alcohol is believed to
have been a factor.

The majority of the other incidents
attended by the 'Tweet Beat' were alcohol-related such as
drink-driving and disorder.

Area Commander Inspector
Clifford Paxton said: "It was a first for us so we had no
idea how much interest we would get and were quite amazed by
the response. Throughout the47, Rotorua 27,
Taupo 13 and Eastern Bay 4.

Supposedly, Winston Peters’ victory in Northland has exposed the simmering dissatisfaction with the government that exists out in the provinces. Yet it remains to be seen whether this defeat will have much significance – and not simply because if and when Labour resumes business as usual in the Northland seat at the next election, Peters’ hold on it could simply evaporate.

On Saturday, National’s electorate vote declined by 7,000 votes, as the 9,000 majority it won last September turned into a 4,000 vote deficit – mainly because Labour supporters followed the nod and wink given by Labour leader Andrew Little, and voted tactically for Peters. In the process, Labour’s vote went down from nearly 9,000 votes six months ago, to only 1,315