How police curbed the ramraid ‘epidemic’

Cambelle Cook

The Post

June 13, 2025

BRUCE MACKAY / Owner of The Cellar Room in Brooklyn, Derek Bealing, bought the store when he retired - and has since been the victim of one ramraid and multiple burglaries.

It’s a quiet and dreary day in Wellington, something that liquor store owner Derek Bealing says is a welcome occurrence.

In 2022 and 2023, Cellar Room liquor store in Brooklyn was targeted by ramraiders, causing weeks of disruption.

“I received a call and arrived to find that basically the whole front of the store had been pushed in.”

The perpetrators had smashed through the front doors, taking out two wall-length shelves which had stocked thousands of dollars worth of alcohol.

They took more alcohol before abandoning the stolen car on the street.

“The police arrived, and the fire brigade to help, because there was a lot of broken glass hanging down … It was a heck of a mess,” Bealing said.

The ramraid caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage. Despite having insurance, Bealing’s premiums and excess increased significantly.

“It cost us quite a bit of money. It was very, very disruptive for several days, if not weeks.”

MONIQUE FORD / The 2022 ramraid on The Cellar Door took less than a minute.

However, Bealing says his store hasn’t been targeted by a ramraid in more than three years.

“There was a rush of them, and most suburbs seemed to be getting hit in the same sort of period that we were. It [ramraids] seem to have definitely reduced.”

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told The Post that for the retail community, ramraids could be “devastating for their livelihoods”.

The sudden frenzy of ramraids in 2022 had been a worldwide “epidemic”.

“It was a bit of a problem around the world actually; it wasn’t necessarily just New Zealand. There were other countries that experienced similar behaviour, young people in particular.”

In New Zealand, ramraids peaked in 2022, with 714 incidents nationwide. Most perpetrators were young people aged between 14 and 17.

Chambers said a combination of social media attention, absenteeism in schools, and “idle hands” following the Covid-19 pandemic helped explain the trend.

MONIQUE FORD / Police Commissioner Richard Chambers says the police approach to tackling ramraids has been three-fold.

“Bear in mind, this period is off the back of our Covid period, so we had a lot of people who were disconnected from their own wellbeing and future. That was a pretty tough period globally.”

Since 2022, there has been a dramatic decline in ramraids. And between January and April this year, just 38 nationwide.

According to Chambers, this was the result of a three-fold approach.

First up was bolstering frontline police work investigating, apprehending, and charging offenders.

“We’ve taken quite a hard line on that, because of the very visible and destructive nature of that type of offending.”

The problem soon became too prolific for the police to deal with on their own.

“I knew how hard the police were working to address ramraids; I saw it right across the country … they were working incredibly hard, but it almost felt like we were on our own at times.”

Secondly, the implementation of a multi-agency initiative was key, Chambers said.

Chart: Katie Ham, Sapeer Mayron - Source: New Zealand Police

“The Fast-Track” initiative works to address serious and persistent offending among children aged 10 to 13, and young people aged 14 to 17.

Chambers said that since the initiative began in 2022, 841 children and young people had been referred to the Fast-Track programme.

Of these, 68% of children and 83% of young people had not been referred back.

“The Fast-Track initiative required agencies to sit around the table within 24 hours of offending … it’s a coordination that’s been really effective.”

Chambers said the third element to mitigate ramraids was to encourage young people to make better decisions.

This was part of an appeal Chambers made to parents, caregivers and other guardians.

“[Young people] aren’t often thinking about the impact the offending is having on their futures, and all they’re doing by offending is closing the door on opportunities for their future.

“As a parent myself, that can be quite devastating … that’s why I reference parents, guardians, and caregivers. They’ve also got a role to try and help young people that have gone off the rails.”

But it’s not over yet: “We always aspire to zero…our focus will remain relentless because of the type of harm that’s caused by this offending.”

Dairy and Business Owners Group chairperson, Sunny Kaushal, agreed the “back-to-basics” police approach has been crucial in minimising ramraids.

“Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers have taken a firm stance on retail crime. Credit is due to both frontline officers and a coalition Government that is backing them unequivocally.”

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young echoed this sentiment.

She said the tough-on-crime police approach, alongside the preventative mechanisms implemented by retailers, had worked.

“[Retailers] have put blockades, barriers, and bollards in front of their stores. There are more cameras and all sorts of things to help deter people.”

Additionally, “the police have cracked down a lot and caught a number of people who were doing ramraids back in the day, and there have been repercussions for those people,” Young said.

“Together, with the additional security measures that retailers have put in place, it means it’s just less beneficial for someone trying to do that.”