Hundreds of people have been arrested, with thousands of charges laid for youth offending in Auckland and Waikato over recent months.
In a statement, police said 205 people have been arrested a total of 307 times for ram-raid and smash-and-grab style offending in the Waikato, with some of those apprehended being repeat offenders.
"Overall, those charged are facing, or have faced, a total of 1229 charges filed in the Youth Court," police said.
The arrests and charges are from February 1 to the end of September.
In Auckland, police have arrested 142 youth offenders and laid 1036 charges since May.
The charges across Auckland and Hamilton relate to burglary, robbery and unlawful taking offences.
"In many instances, individuals have been charged with more than one offence and on more than one occasion," police said.
"Investigations in both regions are ongoing and further arrests and charges will be made."
Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said these provisional figures show how hard police are working to identify offenders and hold them to account.
"We know how tough it has been for retailers who are the target of this criminal offending," Chambers said.
Chambers added some businesses have been targeted more than once, which is having a major impact on them.
"Police focus continues to be on working to try and prevent this type of offending and continuing to hold to account those responsible and place them before the Courts where possible," he said.
"We know what drives this offending is a complex issue that police can't solve alone, so we have also been working with other agencies on alternative resolutions for some of these young people."
But he warned police are taking a stronger stance for repeat offenders.
"Police has opposed bail in many of these cases and we will continue to do so for recidivist offenders who pose a risk to business owners and our wider community," Chambers said.
Insights into offenders
Chambers said there continues to be a small portion of young people committing crimes and inflicting a large amount of harm on business owners.
"Police have acknowledged that in many instances people are being identified for offending at more than one location," Chambers said.
He added the reasons these people are offending are varied and complex.
"There is ongoing work between police and other partner agencies to further understand identified offenders' backgrounds," he said.
"For the vast majority they have been involved in some form of family harm and it's almost certain many have been exposed to violence from a young age as either victims or witnesses.
"Their motivation continues to be money, peer pressure and social media notoriety for all the wrong reasons."
Chambers said many are not engaged in education and their attendance at school is irregular or difficult to determine.
"We are supporting our partners, Oranga Tāmariki and Ministry of Justice as they work to try and address the drivers of this serious offending but police's role is very clear: we have an obligation to the community, and we will respond, investigate, apprehend, and hold people to account."
Mall patrols
Police said have increased foot patrols in malls and shopping precincts, which is to offer reassurance to businesses who are feeling on edge following the ongoing crime wave.
Police urge the public to contact them with any information about the ongoing ram-raid and smash-and-grab spree hitting Auckland and Waikato.
They also encourage parents or families of those involved to reach out to police and work through possible solutions to help break the cycle of offending.
"We would also like to highlight again that the vehicles most commonly being stolen are; Toyota Aqua, Nissan Tida, Mazda Demio and Mazda Atenza," police said.
"Owners of these vehicles are asked to take extra precautions to keep their vehicles safe. This includes simple things such as purchasing a steering wheel lock, removing valuable items, locking your vehicle and parking it in a garage or driveway."
