Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says he believes tougher penalties are needed to deter violence - including jail time - following an “appalling” alleged attack on a city bus.
Brown condemned the incident as Auckland Transport reassured commuters the network was safe.
Yesterday, the Herald reported on a video that had appeared on social media, depicting a woman being threatened and assaulted by a group of teens on an Auckland Transport (AT) bus on Friday.
A separate video, which appeared online on Sunday, showed an apparent vigilante attack on one of the boys allegedly involved at Glen Innes railway station.
Public transport is more popular than ever due to the fuel crisis, and people have a right to be safe using it, Brown told Ryan Bridge TODAY.
The mayor said as a city and country, “we just can’t afford to have that stuff”.
“I don’t want to hear any more of this stuff about ‘oh, they need wrap around care’.
“The wrap around care they’ve got to have is bars. You know, there’s no excuse for that sort of behaviour. We’ve got to stop that.”
He said assaults on public transit were uncommon and happened to a small percentage of users.
Brown earlier told the Herald the alleged assault was “appalling”.
“I’ve been made aware of an incident that’s been circulating on social media,” the mayor said. “This kind of behaviour is appalling.”
Brown said he had been advised police, AT and the bus companies were looking into the incident and expected the agencies to “take appropriate action as required”.
Rachel Cara, AT group manager of public transport operations, told the Herald the agency was supporting police inquiries into both altercations and had shared CCTV footage with investigators.
“These incidents have been highly publicised on social media, creating the impression that Auckland’s public transport network is unsafe. That is not the case.”
Cara said AT staff had quickly escalated both matters to police, and operations had followed up by reviewing the agency’s incident reporting.
“Auckland’s public transport services and facilities feature a wide range of safety features to help keep people safe when travelling, and to support quick responses to incidents when they do occasionally occur,” she said.
“There is always more that can be done to address underlying challenges in our communities that contribute to antisocial behaviour and aggressive behaviour, and Auckland Transport will continue working with police and our partner agencies to support community safety initiatives.”
A spokesperson for Auckland Transport previously told the HeraldCCTV footage showed the driver “followed protocols by radioing for police assistance and pulling over safely to allow passengers to exit”.
“We are following up with tagged passengers to check on their wellbeing.”
Inspector Jim Wilson, Auckland City East area commander, said police were aware of the video and continuing to make inquiries into the alleged assault.
“Police encourage anyone who comes across threatening material posted online to ensure any screenshots are captured and are reported online, to assist our investigation.”
Wilson also addressed threatening comments circulating online following the separate vigilante attack video.
“We strongly advise anyone making threatening comments online or on sharing these videos to cease.”
Anyone with information can update police online now or call 105 and use the incident reference number 260523/2382.
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