Hawke's Bay locals have voiced their concerns about a post-cyclone crime spree.
The Police Minister, District Commander and Mayors of Napier and Hastings were among roughly 200 attendees at a public meeting last night. Â
Some residents spoke about wanting to organise rostered shifts to patrol their communities.
Hawke's Bay Today reporter Mitchell Hageman was there and says others revealed they are now arming themselves.
He says one man spoke about strangers shining lights into his kids bedrooms and others worried about strange cars driving around.
The Prime Minister is sticking to his guns about sending in military personnel to assist police, saying that police are able to handle the situation.
"You'd only send the military in if the police really couldn't cope with what's in front of them and I haven't seen evidence that that's the case."
Chris Hipkins told The Country he has been in regular contact with police and that if police had asked for further assistance from the Government, they would have received it.
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