Police were called twice in June after staff at Invercargill City Council were subjected to abuse — the latest sign that anti-social behaviour towards council workers is getting worse, not better.
The council's most recent health, safety and wellbeing report recorded 23 incidents involving verbal abuse and threatening behaviour last month. That's the highest single-month total in at least a year, and up from 20 in May, which had itself been the previous peak.
Two of June's incidents were classified as "high-potential" and resulted in police involvement. The council responded with changes to staffing arrangements, increased police engagement, and de-escalation training. It wasn't the first time police had been needed — in January, a contractor was threatened by members of the public, also triggering police engagement.
Council group manager community engagement and corporate services Trudie Hurst said in June that staff were encouraged to report threatening or abusive behaviour. Hurst clarified that the figures covered employees, contractors, and members of the public at council facilities or spaces, but not elected members unless they lodged an incident themselves.
The monthly health and safety reports go to councillors regularly, though the topic has been discussed behind closed doors four times this year. Last month, councillors handled it in both open and closed sessions at the same meeting — an unusual arrangement that suggests at least some of what's happening isn't considered fit for public consumption.
All staff receive health and safety training when they join, and there have been 386 training attendances so far this year. Use of the employee assistance programme remained steady, with 12 sessions recorded in June.
Twenty-three incidents in a single month is a blunt number. The trend is heading in the wrong direction.