From burglaries and car crashes to missing people and major disasters, she has seen it all, having patrolled the streets of the city’s west for nearly 24 years.
The Hornby resident has been at the patrol since its humble beginnings. It celebrates 26 years this month since it was established as the eyes and ears of the community.
“I think it’s amazing actually, I’ve been involved coming up to 24 years now and a lot has changed during that time,” she said.
Loffhagen has always wanted to do her bit to support the community. Since joining, she never looked back.
Over time she has responded to a wide range of concerns. It could be rogue shopping trollies, supporting people who were lost, jump-starting cars, or letting residents know their garage door or car boot was “wide open.”
“Back in the day when there was rugby at Lancaster Park, there were at least 60 cars that got damaged. But with three different patrols going up and down the street each night, we got that down to zero,” she said.
“During the earthquakes, we went over to New Brighton every day with other patrols to deliver non-perishable food.”
Issues, like burglaries, remained largely the same now compared to when she first started, but noted people opportunists were “a lot more brazen,” like breaking into houses while people were home.
“We go to known problem areas and act as a deterrent. We sometimes don’t see them but they see us and disappear,” she said.
“Every week we patrol around the hospital as nurses walk back to their cars. These nurses were walking to dark car parks so they were very appreciative of that.”
Keeping a watchful eye over anti-social behaviour did not always attract the best attention, but it was not enough to deter her from the important task at hand.
“One time we had a rock thrown at the car. Sometimes they yell abuse or flip the bird – but that’s expected.”
The job definitely came with its challenges, like having the ability to “read” people and determining whether their demeanour warranted suspicion.
Said Loffhagen: “I’m a great believer in gut instinct, if something’s not right, 99 per cent of the time you’re onto it. I’m quite lucky, I’ve always been able to quickly pick up on something.”
The patrol, formerly Community Watch Hornby, established in 1994 following a desire by the community to address increasing petty crime in Hornby, Prebbleton, Wigram, Halswell and Templeton.
It works closely with police, exchanging knowledge on areas of concern and contributing towards efforts to apprehend offenders.
It was a stepping stone for budding police officers before they went to the Royal New Zealand Police College, to get a taste of how to observe, report and patrol.
Patrolling neighbourhoods was only the tip of the iceberg.
A lot of work went into it behind the scenes, Loffhagen said, such as writing reports, sending relevant information to the police, visiting residents with concerns and pinning down funding.
She dedicated 30 hours a month – including two patrols – checking over reports, writing up rosters, maintaining the patrol car and contacting appropriate authorities with concerns, such as schools.
“The hours we put in is phenomenal, and so many of it is behind the scenes.”
Loffhagen has called Hornby home for more than 40 years, but she was born in Ashburton.
Retiring from her medical receptionist job for 23 years in 2019 at Village Health Medical Centre means she dedicated more time to other passion projects such as gardening and cross-stitch.
