Robbo25

Totally safe, in the UK my wife wouldn't even go the shop about 500m down the road because of all the teens loitering outside etc.

There appears to be far less anti-social crime here also i.e. play parks are left alone, schools unlocked etc.

bga

good point... Never went near the kids swings etc back home, due to gangs loitering around there, broken bottles , stuff smashed up.. the kids play areas are a joy - forgot about that . Also there's very little dog dirt around which again i'm totally used to now but was noticeable (the lack of it) when I first got here , it will be a bit of a shock that when i get back to blighty !

RobDon

I also forgot about that! Ditto that too!

Psychopandy

Having just spent a week (well 3 days) on jury service - can you believe that!! only been here 5 months!! - i have seen that there are bad people here as there are anywhere else in the world.

Rough looking folks hanging around outside the courthouse made me feel uneasy, they looked waayy to comfortable there - like it was a second home - i on the other hand was completely intimidated by the whole place!!

I read the nearest thing that we have in our local paper to a court report - it is basically just a list of what the police have stopped people for and 'incidents' that have occurred in the previous week - its pretty hard core

this week we had ......

Toilet broken into and a toilet roll holder stolen in town

two offenders in their 60s or 70s stole wine bottle holders from the antique shop valued at $700

someone drove away without paying for their shopping in the countdown (supermarket)

4 drink driving charges

and a couple of car/house burgalaries

so whilst i cant deny that there was an incident of sexual assault reported last week - typically this is as bad as the average week gets - and we had had the 'flield days' weekend which will have brought a lot more folks to town.

I have no reason not to feel safe here - but having lived in the Uk for most of my adult life - i see trouble everywhere!! but that isnt New Zealands fault and will take a lot of time for that to wear off i guess.

Psycho x

kiwinow

A typical court report in Timaru involves someone nicking something from someone's garage, a punch up outside a party and a DUI. There are gangs and thugs, and sometimes bad things happen, but you don't tend to stay inside for fear that it will.

My 12 year old daughter walks to her friends' houses, the park and school, catches the bus into town on a Saturday morning. But I wouldn't let her walk anywhere much after 5pm. My teenage boys walk anywhere at night, but I'd prefer to pick them up on Friday and Saturday nights. I walk the dog at 9pm by myself without fear and often leave the back door unlocked all day.

The best thing to do when you arrive is to ask several locals where they allow their kids to go alone, at what age, and what areas they consider unsafe, e.g. our skate park is fine during the day but becomes an area for crime and mischief at night.