‘Concerns about alcohol-related harm for some time’ — Inspector Price
By Alan TristramPolice in Kāpiti have replied to critics who suggested they did not do enough to prevent events that led to the violent death of 17-year-old Izaak Millanta at the weekend (see stories downpage).
Inspector John Price, Kāpiti Mana Area Commander says: “Kāpiti Police have had concerns about alcohol-related harm during the hours of darkness in the Kāpiti Lights complex for some time.
“We have been working with the Kāpiti Coast District Council and other partner agencies, also committed to reducing the harm caused by alcohol, to address some of our ongoing concerns.”
Inspector Price also says the Kāpiti Lights complex is subject to a 24 hour Liquor Ban.
He says: “Where Kāpiti Police witness or detect breaches of the Liquor Ban, these are actively acted upon.”
‘Altercation’ before death
Turning to the events immediately before the death of Izaak Millanta, Inspector Price says: “In the early hours of Saturday 11 August, Retro Bar security staff flagged down a Police patrol vehicle to alert them to an altercation which had taken place.
“Had the security staff also flagged Police down for alleged Liquor Ban breaches, these would have been acted upon in the same manner.”
And he says the death of Izak Millanta is ‘a tragedy and one that is being felt deeply in the Kāpiti community.’
He concludes: “Given the investigation into his death is still ongoing, it is not prudent to make any further comment in relation to statements made by Retro Bar management.”
@ Za and Richard –
Good points !! its people like you guys, and Tim etc that we need on the ground running this country, the last 100 years have been full of fat old corrupt money grabbing politicians and their mates who spend most of their time worrying aboout maximising paliamentary perks, ladder climbing and making a name for themselves.
NZ is in a hole deeper than many realise and it starts at a community level.
The police response is pathetic.
They were probably too busy arresting peaceful people who smoke and/or sell cannabis to prevent a young man being brutally murdered on their own back doorstep.
NZ’s Version of Organised Crime: the Police
Police, it’s time you called a moratorium on the War on Drugs. Show that you have a moral compass. And show some initiative. Don’t wait for word from on high. Do it off your own bat. Focus on real crimes, that is, crimes of violence (against people) and crimes of dishonesty (against people’s property).
It seems everyone is trying to pass the buck.
Retro and the police are not responsible for the young mans death, the person who assaulted him is. Retro & the police could both do more to address the problem, the car park is in the cops backyard, they could walk over there and make sure people aren’t drinking, a few weekends of them doing that persistently and the problem could be solved. Retro doesn’t need to be open until 3am, they should reconsider their closing hours
I like your comment !, I think the whole affair is a bit deeper than a couple of weekends will fix, these types of problems have been going on for our kids for 10 years I can remember, one thing Kapiti is good at is keeping the dirt under the rug to some degree.
I believe the Police, Retro Bar, Cock Bar, KCDC etc, the whole community needs to take some ownership for this, if not just for the mear fact of being ignorant that these things can and do happen in our community.
We do not know who is guilty, we just know that there is a fact, Retro Bar is an attractant for problems manily because they open too late. Honestly speaking, if that is the case, although I do not have the greatest sympathy for cops, we cannot ask them to deal only with Retro Bar for the night. This symbiosis would work in a less frequent problem situation. But if the cops leave the area and each night it starts again and again, the only way is to actually reduce operational hours to much earlier time 11pm for example. I do not think that police should now guard the bar, it is clear that they cannot do that and it is also clear that the bar is the attractant as I do not believe people gather around the pharmacy on the corner next to the bar.