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Tuesday 17 January 2012
Singing for Olympic glory Page 5
Alcohol, violence targeted
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But new police chief likes what he sees in the sunshine city
Andrew Board The region’s new area commander will usher in a new wave of policing, where preventing crime and victimisation is the “golden egg” and he is starting with family violence and alcoholrelated crime. Inspector Steve Greally is now in his second week on the job as Nelson Bays area commander. He says he is impressed with what he has seen so far and is looking forward to getting stuck in to his new job. A former airline pilot, Steve has been in the police force for less than 12 years but brings a strong background to Nelson, having previously worked closely with new deputy commissioner, Mike
Bush, in his former area of Counties-Manukau. He says shifting the focus of policing from responding to prevention will be his biggest priority. “If we put prevention at the beginning of everything we do, right at the front of the equation, we will go a long way towards reducing victimisation. Our aim is to prevent people in our community becoming victims of crime at any level.” He says two key areas to target include family violence and alcohol related crime. “From what I can see at the moment we have an issue with family violence, it’s not out of control, but it’s an issue. We need to ensure
SEE PAGE 3
PHOENIX’S FIGHT: Renea Pidduck with her two sons Phoenix and Henare Stafford. Phoenix is fighting a tumour in his spine and his family are raising money for his treatment. Photo: Andrew Board.
Nelson rallies behind sick son The mother of a cancer-stricken Nelson boy is overwhelmed with generosity of Nelsonians eager to help her son fight a life-threatening tumour. Phoenix Stafford, 9, was diagnosed with a rare cancerous tumour, called Ewings Sarcoma of the spinal cord, in September 2010. It was removed and followed by 10 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Once his treatment finished, he went in for a routine MRI scan which re-
vealed another tumour, this time around the spinal cord, making it too risky to remove. Doctors sent Phoenix back for more chemotherapy and radiation treatment but it failed to shrink the tumour. In fact it continued to grow. Phoenix’s mum Renea Pidduck, with the help of her extended family and friends, is now raising money for alternative treatment, which is not funded by the government. Already
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they have raised the $6000 needed for specialised blood tests and are now raising money to pay for whichever treatment the blood tests reveal will work best. Last week the family started a Facebook page which has already attracted more than 600 people, many donating money and sending information to the family.
SEE PAGE 2
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