Life on the streets goes on under move-on orders

The move-on orders are in force but Auckland Council says it is business as usual for their wardens who wander the streets to wake up rough sleepers each morning.

The controversial law came into force on 25 October, giving police the power to move people elsewhere if they are being disorderly, begging or rough sleeping.

Twenty-nine known orders have been issued so far, the majority for reasons police expected, such as drunk, disruptive and disorderly behaviour.

Every morning, starting at 7am, Auckland Council's community safety officers walk a city centre beat to wake up those who have spent the night on the street.

Among them is Casey, who has been in this role for three years. She says sometimes it is hectic, but not today.

"This morning you must have brought us luck, because everyone was already up ready to go for their day. A lot of them will be heading up to the mission or Lifewise on K'Rd to get some breakfast or a lot of them will start their usual day of hustling, which is begging."

She is on patrol with fellow safety officer Anthony.

When approaching rough sleepers, they both keep in mind how they would feel about being woken up.

"I just advise them that we need to get started for the business day and I usually point out that there is a nice warm breakfast at the mission."

They wear body cameras, which Anthony said can get mixed reactions.

"I think life on the streets is very tough so it all depends on how their evening's been, how they've been treated, but certainly your approach can be a definite advantage."

Auckland Council's CCTV operators scan the city after dawn, before the patrols are sent out.

Compliance manager Adrian Wilson oversees the team of 36 community safety officers.

"They'll do a scan of the city, they start about 6.30am, see where we've got any homeless people that may be out there, any encampments that have set up, any other issues in the public space, any obstructions and they'll brief the officers in the morning on what to expect."

He says their job is to keep the city moving first thing in morning, respond to anti-social behaviour or obstructions of businesses or footpaths - and give lost tourist directions.

"We're still doing those morning wake-ups, we're still doing the outreach provision when we come across people that need help.

"When we get the issues where somebody might be a little bit grumpy when we wake them up, they might be anti-social, we might get verbal aggression or physical aggression, that's when we escalate and call for police and we used to do it before."

Police have so far issued 29 move on orders, four were to people who are homeless.

The reasons were mainly for drunk and disorderly behaviour - no orders were given for begging or rough sleeping.

Lifewise is among many organisations that opposed the move on orders.

Chief executive Pam Elgar says it seems "draconian" for such a small number, but is pleased rough sleepers are not being targeted.

"This sort of thing doesn't help build trust with the communities that are at risk so we do think it's overreach. I'm really delighted that actually they are taking a softly, softly approach."

Lifewise is helping those living rough to understand the move on orders and know what to do if it affects them.

"We're encouraging people to obey any instructions and not engage in any disorderly or intimidating behaviour if they're asked to move on and we are asking to let us know so that we know what we can do for support."

Auckland's community safety officers work closely with outreach teams from the city mission and Lifewise.

Anthony says he has seen people new to the street housed the same day.

"Where we can offer outreach we certainly do, if we can make a valued difference to one person a day then that's a victory. It's a great feeling to know that someone's life has improved, their living circumstances at least."

Police will provide weekly updates on the number of move on orders issued, and why.

Ahead of the election this weekend, the Greens, Opportunity and Te Pati Maori have committed to repealing the move on orders, while Labour says it will remove rough sleeping and begging from the law.