South Auckland retailers urge criminals to 'choose a better life'

Jack (Inderjit) Kalkat on behalf of Thirsty Liquor Group and many of our Thirsty Liquor retailers sponsored this free event in Papakura to send an important message to the community.

Retailers are hard-working people who do not deserve the violence that is being aimed at them. That's the message community leaders took to an event in Papakura last weekend. The South Auckland Retail group is a new collective of shop owners from all over South Auckland.

On Saturday, April 7, the group helds its inaugural public event at the Papakura Clock Tower. Under the banner Say No To Crime volunteers handed out free drinks, t-shirts and cooked a sausage sizzle for members of the public. Both Tony Kate, Papakura Marae's chief executive, and Papakura Community Constable Stephen Brown, spoke to the crowd.

Kake says the marae is "right behind retailers" and supports the group's message. "Retailers are hard-working people and do not need to be hassled. Get the job and get your own money." Constable Brown says, "retail outlet owners work hard 15 hours a day".
"They do not deserve to be suffering from burglaries and robberies. "Some of the robberies are quite vicious and violent. They don't deserve to be victims."

South Auckland Retail spokesman Daljeet Singh Sidhu, a retailer in the Papakura area, says it wants to create an awareness around store-related crime and promote safer communities where "everyone lives in peace".

"Nobody is a born criminal, it is the path they have chosen," Sidhu says."We wanted to encourage those people, who have gone the wrong way to change and choose the right path, choose a better life and have a better future."

The group plans to hold more events around South Auckland in the future

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/papakura-courier/102934780/south-auckland-retailers-urge-criminals-to-choose-a-better-life