Karen Bright's guest appearances

Karen Bright

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

KVEC Podcast Network

OwlTail

Grover Beach

Hometown Radio 10/27/22 5p: Karen Bright runs for mayor of Grover Beach

Stacey Korsgaden

Anita speaks with Grover Beach Mayoral Candidates Stacey Korsgaden and Karen Bright.Produced by Jim Richards

Anita speaks with Grover Beach Mayoral Candidates Stacey Korsgaden and Karen Bright. Produced by Jim Richards

Pismo Beach Today 10/23/2022 12p: Stacey Korsgaden and Karen Bright

Ram raid attacks have left a path of destruction across Auckland over the last two weeks.Multiple targets have been hit and shopowners now face the reality that they could be next.What's more is that the attacks are becoming more brazen, shifting from dairies to department stores and malls, which often offer the criminals more lucrative hauls.Herald senior writer Jane Phare said that the mostly young offenders committing these crimes are becoming more confident over time.She says that offenders are turning away from dairy owners because they've realised they can make better scores elsewhere."The dairy owners are now locking up vapes and cigarettes. The offenders have to be in and out really quickly. They've only got a few minutes, and they're not getting a lot from the dairies. They're just getting chippies, lollies and drinks. So they are becoming more brazen and targeting high-end designer clothing, electrical goods and other stuff they can sell easily."Phare says there's something desirable about notoriety that is afforded to those brazen enough to smash a stolen vehicle into a mall."There's definitely a social media element to it," she says."They don't leave it up very long, but they are sharing it on Snapchat and Tiktok. There's definitely evidence of that. It's a bit of a craze at the moment. Ram raids aren't new, but they're definitely on the increase."Research into ram raids has shown that most ram raid offenders are under the age of 17, indicating that this problem is concentrated among younger demographics.Phare says this demographic group simply doesn't face the same repercussions as older offenders."No one will really admit this, but up to the age of 18 kids are dealt with in the youth the court. They're not going to go to jail. They'll get community service. I mean, one of our local store owners, a bottle shop owner, got a letter of apology but there was $30,000 of damage done and his store is still boarded up because there's a huge backlog waiting for these doors to be replaced."For these offenders to face any repercussions, they first need to be caught and there simply is no guarantee of this happening either."I did get some data from the police showing that in the year between February 2021 and March 2022, only 20 young people were apprehended. These kids are wearing masks and gloves. They're wearing plain clothing, like pale grey hoodies and sweat pants. They certainly don't go in wearing a spangly jacket that everybody will be able to recognise. These kids are getting away with it."Asked whether these attacks on stores were well organised or simply chaotic smash and grabs, Phare said that the evidence showed a mix of both. Kaurilands GAS service station owner Kanna Sharma had his store targeted this week. Photo / Adam Pearse"I've watched quite a lot of CCTV footage and some of it is like Fawlty Towers. It's disorganised. It's almost funny. They're stealing things with nothing inside and they're missing stuff just because they're in such a panic."But other stuff is very organised. They come in two cars, one's a getaway car, and they've scoped the place first. They know exactly what they're targeting. In the example of one bottle store, they didn't even look around. They came in, jumped on the counter and reached up for the thousand-dollar bottles of collector whiskey. They knew exactly what they were after and they took about $10,000 worth of alcohol. You can't tell me that's for personal use. They must be stealing that to order."Phare says that the businesses facing these attacks often have to fork out their own money to protect their premises."They can put in fog cannons … they're putting in roller doors, grills, ram bollards, bolts, more CCTV cameras inside and out, louder alarms, and maybe getting the alarm monitored. But that all costs thousands of dollars and it's not covered by...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ram raid attacks have left a path of destruction across Auckland over the last two weeks. Multiple targets have been hit and shopowners now face the reality that they could be next. What's more is that the attacks are becoming more brazen, shifting from dairies to department stores and malls, which often offer the criminals more lucrative hauls. Herald senior writer Jane Phare said that the mostly young offenders committing these crimes are becoming more confident over time. She says that offenders are turning away from dairy owners because they've realised they can make better scores elsewhere. "The dairy owners are now locking up vapes and cigarettes. The offenders have to be in and out really quickly. They've only got a few minutes, and they're not getting a lot from the dairies. They're just getting chippies, lollies and drinks. So they are becoming more brazen and targeting high-end designer clothing, electrical goods and other stuff they can sell easily." Phare says there's something desirable about notoriety that is afforded to those brazen enough to smash a stolen vehicle into a mall. "There's definitely a social media element to it," she says. "They don't leave it up very long, but they are sharing it on Snapchat and Tiktok. There's definitely evidence of that. It's a bit of a craze at the moment. Ram raids aren't new, but they're definitely on the increase." Research into ram raids has shown that most ram raid offenders are under the age of 17, indicating that this problem is concentrated among younger demographics. Phare says this demographic group simply doesn't face the same repercussions as older offenders. "No one will really admit this, but up to the age of 18 kids are dealt with in the youth the court. They're not going to go to jail. They'll get community service. I mean, one of our local store owners, a bottle shop owner, got a letter of apology but there was $30,000 of damage done and his store is still boarded up because there's a huge backlog waiting for these doors to be replaced." For these offenders to face any repercussions, they first need to be caught and there simply is no guarantee of this happening either. "I did get some data from the police showing that in the year between February 2021 and March 2022, only 20 young people were apprehended. These kids are wearing masks and gloves. They're wearing plain clothing, like pale grey hoodies and sweat pants. They certainly don't go in wearing a spangly jacket that everybody will be able to recognise. These kids are getting away with it." Asked whether these attacks on stores were well organised or simply chaotic smash and grabs, Phare said that the evidence showed a mix of both. Kaurilands GAS service station owner Kanna Sharma had his store targeted this week. Photo / Adam Pearse "I've watched quite a lot of CCTV footage and some of it is like Fawlty Towers. It's disorganised. It's almost funny. They're stealing things with nothing inside and they're missing stuff just because they're in such a panic. "But other stuff is very organised. They come in two cars, one's a getaway car, and they've scoped the place first. They know exactly what they're targeting. In the example of one bottle store, they didn't even look around. They came in, jumped on the counter and reached up for the thousand-dollar bottles of collector whiskey. They knew exactly what they were after and they took about $10,000 worth of alcohol. You can't tell me that's for personal use. They must be stealing that to order." Phare says that the businesses facing these attacks often have to fork out their own money to protect their premises. "They can put in fog cannons … they're putting in roller doors, grills, ram bollards, bolts, more CCTV cameras inside and out, louder alarms, and maybe getting the alarm monitored. But that all costs thousands of dollars and it's not covered by...See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.