Editorial: City violence shames us all

It's a disheartening feeling coming into work on a Monday, having a chat with our early reporter and finding out there's been yet another incident in The Square – or somewhere else in the city centre.

I've only been living in Palmerston North for almost six months now, but barely a weekend passes without some unpleasantness like an assault, beating or stabbing happening.

The latest attack on a 23-year-old man had all the cowardly hallmarks of previous incidents. His injuries were so bad he had to be flown from Palmerston North to Wellington Hospital by the Square Trust rescue helicopter. All of this happened in a busy part of the town centre and no doubt in front of plenty of people.

And for that to be almost the norm on any given weekend is sickening.

Our job here at the Standard is to cover the events that happen in our community; the good, the bad, the funny, the wins, the losses and, of course, the not-so-pleasant stories.

It's not nice but it's part of our job and it would be remiss of us not to do so.

What's sad is that there is almost a level of apathy within our community that violence in our city centre is par for the course, acceptable even.

Well, it's not.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these kinds of gutless acts are something we should all be collectively ashamed of. Yes, the perpetrators of these crimes are directly responsible – as are parents in some cases – but the fallout from what happens is a stain on all of us who call this city home.

Are we so blase about these incidents now that we've become desensitised to this kind of mindless violence? Is it just another story in the paper?

I dread to think that is how people think.

I hope people are as outraged as I am that these things continue to happen. Sweeping it under the carpet or claiming the problem isn't that bad is simply not good enough.

It's a weak and lazy attitude to a problem that won't go away unless action is taken, be it in the form of stricter rules around alcohol, bar closing times, curfews or even security cameras.

It's perhaps understandable that a combination of drinking, dozens of people spilling out of bars and clubs and the wee hours can create a tense atmosphere.

But it's not excusable.

Too much emphasis is put on the police and other agencies who deal with the problems after they happen.

Something needs to be done before it gets to that stage.

Rather than spend $200,000 on promoting the city to outsiders, as the city council is proposing, how about putting that idea on hold and direct some of that money towards making the city safer for the thousands who already live here?

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