Nelson Community Patrol (NCP) works closely with Nelson City Council and the New Zealand Police to reduce crime and build safer communities

NCP volunteers patrol the Nelson, Tahuna and Stoke areas and monitor the closed circuit television cameras around Nelson's inner city from within Nelson Police Station.

Nelson adults of all ages, who want to help the Police in keeping our city safe and relatively crime-free, have joined NCP since we began patrolling in 1994.

Nelson Community Patrols are NOT Police Officers or Security Guards and do not confront wrongdoers and suspicious individuals. Instead, NCP acts as the 'eyes and ears' of Nelson's Police and reports graffiti and infrastructure problems to Nelson City Council.

NCP volunteers attend Police briefings (usually in Nelson Police Station) before going out on patrol and have a two-way Police radio in our vehicle together with other safety equipment.

Patrols are always carried out by pairs of volunteers who do not leave the vehicle (except when doing beach patrols or in a dire emergency). Anything suspicious or notworthy is reported by police radio to a Communications Centre which then directs Police, Fire or Ambulance to the incident as appropriate.

Both the "Nelson City Council Community Liaison Adviser - Safe City" and a Police Liaison Officer meet regularly with NCP to assist and support our work in many practical ways.

The Community Patrols of New Zealand Charitable Trust Board

Then called "Nelson Nightwatch", we were one of the first local authority organised Community Patrols in New Zealand when we started in 1994 and we were quick to affiliate with the national body when it registered as a charitable trust in 2001.

Robert Fowler, the national chairman of Community Patrols New Zealand (CPNZ), has said: "Our approach is passive and non-confrontational. We have a memorandum of understanding with the police and strict rules we abide to."

Many of NCP's volunteers have studied to gain Certificates in Community Patrolling recognised by NZQA and NCP's co-ordinator, Garry Thompson, was recently appointed as Tasman District Representative to CPNZ's National Committee.

Today, the Nelson Tasman police district still has the lowest crime rate in New Zealand, but burglaries and thefts still occur. Too frequently thieves target the larger motels and camp grounds because they can mingle unobserved and unremarked in the throng. They know that windows will be left open in hot weather and that visitors often leave high value items like video cameras, jewellery and laptops in their cars.

Autonomous and Independent

Nelson Community Patrol works closely with Police and CPNZ on a daily basis and has been supported both practically and financially by Nelson City Council since inception. However, NCP is made up of ordinary people who want to give something back to their community and remains independent and self-governing.

It may sound like heresy to say it, but there may come a time in your holiday when you will appreciate a bit of retail therapy. Nelson's Saturday morning market is rightly famous throughout New Zealand. Whether it's an organic fijoa or a model airplane built from a Steinlager can, nobody ever comes away unhappy from Montgomery Square.

Lots of craft workshops are nearby. Jens Hansen's shop (the maker of the "One Ring" in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy) is unmissable, as is flamedaisy's glass blowing workshop.

Nelson city is just big enough to have all the facilities you need while preserving small town friendliness and helpfulness. Because it is such a pleasant place to stay, many artists, musicians and other creative people have settled in the South Island's first city - how many other towns of a similar size to Nelson can boast their very own Symphony Orchestra?