Crime prevention and safety will be at the top of the agenda when police and Tauranga taxi companies sit down together this week.

Organised by Tauranga Police Area Prevention Manager Inspector Karl Wright St-Clair, the meeting is the result of taxi driver concerns for what they believe is a lack of police response when dealing with late night verbal abuse.

Tauranga Independent MP Brendan Horan listens to the concerns of Tauranga Mount Taxi driver Navdeep Singh. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Tauranga-Mount Maunganui taxi drivers last month met with Tauranga Independent MP Brendan Horan, who pledged to take the matter to police and Minister of Police, Anne Tolley.

Drivers reported encountering escalating levels of verbal abuse, particularly at night, but are wary of reporting the abuse because of the lengthy time needed to lodge a police complaint.

They say 99 per cent of the incidents involve locals rather than tourists.

Karl says the meeting, scheduled for later this week, is still in its infancy but he is more than happy to sit down with taxi drivers in what will essentially be a 'fact finding” mission.

'There have been some general complaints made which we don't really know too much about at this stage.

'I intend to put out an offer out to all taxi companies in Tauranga and representatives who want to come along and then we can all be on the same page with what's going on.”

The meeting will be directed at police passing on crime prevention tools or tips to the drivers, dependant on the types of complaints outlined.

Brendan says a number of taxi drivers are eager to attend the meeting and last week's court case with Queenstown Police Constable Jeanette May McNee highlights a 'predetermined snobbery” of taxi drivers in New Zealand.

McKnee was found guilty at a judge alone trial of racially abusing a taxi driver during a late-night fare dispute in Queenstown, Fairfax media reports.

Judge Tony Couch found McNee guilty of a charge of using insulting words to Malaysian taxi driver Ganesh Paramanathan on November 3, last year.

The judge said he found she used the words: "F... off to India, you come here and get all the Kiwi jobs. Eat your f...... curry and f... off to India. This is a Kiwi job."

'The thing is people don't really understand. They should talk to our taxi drivers and find out how highly qualified these guys are,” says Brendan.

'There are a number of issues that the taxi drivers have told me. We have got what we have wanted [a meeting with police] and we will resolve those issues and build the relationship with police.”