South Wairarapa mayor Adrienne Staples says she has been told police resources are stretched and are not likely to change for the town of Martinborough.
The mayor's comments were made following the discharge without conviction of two men involved in an armed and violent altercation with teenagers during a community patrol in May last year.
Bruce Sullivan and his son-in-law Chris Vizor were involved in the fracas in Martinborough, during which a shotgun was fired and a teenager hit on the head by a baton.
The community night patrol the men were part of was not sanctioned by police. Mr Sullivan and Mr Vizor, who have been described as vigilantes, were discharged without conviction in the Masterton District Court on Monday.
Ms Staples says she has taken her concerns about not having a fulltime officer in Martinborough to the Minister of Police, the area commander and district commander.
"Basically I'm getting the same answer from all three of them: we're on a tight budget, they're looking at ways of saving money and what we have now is what we're going to get," Ms Staples says.
Bruce Sullivan says policing in Martinborough in May last year was inadequate and the incident has changed the way people in the town behave. They no longer leave their doors open or the keys in their cars.
Wairarapa MP John Hayes believes the ruling to discharge Mr Sullivan and Mr Vizor without conviction is the right decision and the men are not vigilantes.
Mr Hayes says it is inevitable patrols with or without the support of police will continue and until police work out whether they can improve the situation.
