Making our city safer? Multiple security patrols in Auckland CBD, but with limited powers

Since Covid, Aucklanders are seeing a variety of officers patrolling the CBD, and while their presence is high, their powers are not well understood.

At least four types of uniformed officers are roaming the same inner-city areas, coming from a combination of council, volunteer and private organisations, each focusing on separate issues.

Chief executive of the New Zealand Security Association Gary Morrison says security guards hold no authority.

“The role of security is very much to observe, protect and report, it’s not to engage…in simple terms, security staff have no additional powers than any other citizen.”

Chief executive of Heart of the City Viv Beck says the increase in security patrolling started when businesses were concerned about crime rates.

“We were getting more and more complaints from businesses, and crime statistics were going up. They reached a peak around January 2023.”

She says crime rates have since lowered.

“The last quarter of 2025 was 18 per cent down on the same quarter in 2024 in terms of overall crime.”

Despite the decline in crime, there are no current plans to reduce the level of security patrols in Auckland CBD.

The Heart of the City security team is contracted from private company ‘Absolute’, and the majority of funding comes from a targeted business rate collected by Auckland Council.

The rates charge commercial property owners in the CBD boundary, and indirectly the business owners and tenants.

Heart of the City officers are among the most seen patrols in the city centre, and their role is to respond to businesses.

“Businesses can call them if they need help, and they can de-escalate situations or escalate to police if it’s criminal activity,” Viv Beck says.

While businesses are told to call these officers for help, they are not law enforcement, having no authority to engage and no consistent direct line to police.

“We always encourage people if it's an illegal activity, ring police,” she says.

Another patrolling group are the Auckland Council Compliance Wardens, formerly called City-Watch.

These officers are funded by the council and CBD ratepayers, and only focus on issues around Auckland city bylaws, such as signage, excessive noise, encampments, obstructions, and breaches of liquor bans.

They may also refer homeless to outreach providers like the Auckland City Mission.

The council wardens are permitted to ask someone to stop or remove something breaching the bylaws and may issue warnings or fines.

"There is a slight difference between council and private, but that's more so noise complaints, things like that, not necessarily physical power,” says Gary Morrison.

While these wardens patrol the city, members of the public still need to log complaints online.

Volunteers like community patrols and Māori wardens hold no security licenses or training, and their role is to observe CBD areas and report any issues to police.

Chair of Community Patrols New Zealand Chris Lawton says volunteer patrols hold no special powers.

“We don't train our patrollers to engage in incidents, in fact, we train them to pull back and make sure that someone gets on the phone to the police and gives them a good description of what's happening.”

While they are made up of volunteers, funding for the Community Patrols comes from government and council grants.

“It's a cheap way for councils to get a good number of hours of public safety and community safety,” Lawton says.

Māori wardens focus on providing welfare to vulnerable communities and homeless, such as food and support contacts.

Private security guards can be seen standing outside of certain businesses and events, and while they typically do not patrol, they are among the visible security presence in the CBD.

They are paid for by the businesses who hire them to watch for shoplifting or aggressive behaviours, but they do not have authority to engage and will have to call police.

While the large number of uniformed patrols have become a common sight around Auckland CBD, none have powers and mainly serve as a visible deterrent.

*AI was used to transcribe interviews.