A top Hawke's Bay police officer is calling for the community to back police in tackling gang crime following a spate of unrest, including shootings in the street, saying it's not only the police's job.
NZ Police Eastern District Commander Superintendent Tania Kura talked to TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning about the recent gang tensions in Hawke's Bay, including a shooting in the streets of Taradale.
"I don't think we'll ever be on top of it," she said. "The gang situation, it's not new and I don't think anything will make it go away but the way that we cope with it in combination with other people will be the way that we deal with it.
"The problems of gangs have been around for a long time, but it's never been just for police to deal with. This is a community issue
Leading gang researcher Jarrod Gilbert talked to TVNZ1’s Breakfast after months of unrest, turf wars and middle-of-the-street shootings.
Last week, leading gang researcher Jarrod Gilbert told Breakfast the response to tackling gang issues needed to be more sophisticated than just getting tough on crime .
He credited Superintendent Kura, saying, "I must give a shout-out here to Superintendent Kura from the police in Hawke's Bay who has spoken in a way I think have been incredibly intelligent and mature".
Armed officers swarmed the scene in Taradale where a gun was fired during a fight between up to 40 gang members.
Superintendent Kura told Breakfast today she looked at gangs in the way of seeing lots of people who wouldn't have made that choice if they had lots of choices.
"I don't have the science and I don't have the research, but I have the gut feel from a lot of years in policing is that I look at parents, that a lot of our gang members are parents, and they want better for their children but if my dad, my granddad and my uncles have all been in gangs well then I'm likely to join a gang as well.
"The gang will give them the things that they particularly need, but the sad thing for me is how come the rest of the community doesn't give that as well?"
Ms Kura said it was important to help children achieve in school and in life.
"Regardless of whether you're a gang member parent, you'll still want better for your children so I sort of think - is our society set up to do that for everybody or do we judge too early?"
“We are serious,” National leader Simon Bridges said.
When asked about the National Party's proposal for getting tough on crime, particularly proposing a Strike Force Raptor , Ms Kura said there needed to be balance with taking the hard line and looking to what the future will bring.
"How do we look after those children that are coming through? How do we give them a different pathway? And that's about all of us doing that."
She also said people expect police to just make a lot of arrests and punishment without looking at properly solving issues.
"When we have an incident everybody's looking for arrests, they're not looking for solutions. I think the lack of forgiveness bothers me too, there's lots of things gone on like revenge or they want blood and people call for blood and accountability."
It comes after weekend clashes between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power in Ruatoria and Taradale.
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