Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says police is reviewing its pursuit policy after a spike in ram-raids and violence.
Auckland has been plagued by ram-raid robberies recently with business owners crying out for help. It comes after dozens of businesses were hit in the past months with many of the offenders being teenagers or children.
National leader Christopher Luxon has blamed the increase in ram raids on the Government's soft on crime approach and called for a review of the changes made to the police's pursuit policy in 2020.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hit back at those claims, saying none of the consequences for crime have changed.
"Let's just look at the bare facts. None of the penalties, none of the consequences for these crimes have changed. So this idea that somehow there is this weakening is just wrong," Ardern told AM.
The police pursuit policy was changed in the wake of 63 pursuits-related deaths within just 10 years. Under the new policy police only chase a fleeing driver if there is a threat before the pursuit starts and if there is a need for the person to be caught immediately.
Speaking with AM's Ryan Bridge on Tuesday, Andrew Coster said the 2020 changes are being reviewed, but any adjustments would be tweaks, not a complete overhaul.
"The people who are involved in these ram raids, many of them are under 15. We need to look seriously at why these kids are not productively engaged," Coster told Bridge.
"There are a lot of kids not going to school post-COVID. The policy we are looking at, there's a real balance again to be struck here."
Coster said the policy has clearly worked and any changes have to be carefully considered.
"The 10 years before the policy change we killed 60 people through police pursuits. No one has died in a police pursuit since we changed the policy. But obviously, there is a balance.
"The question is for what offence would we be prepared to put the public at risk by engaging in a pursuit.
"We are looking at fine-tuning it [pursuit policy] but it will be in the nature of fine-tuning if there is any change. The fundamental position lines up with what other jurisdictions are doing and looks like international best practice."
He said the review was his decision and not dictated by the Government. He also said he has no regrets about changing the policy in 2020.
"I have no regrets about saving the lives that we have saved. It's clearly a massive responsibility to work out where the balance sits and we have to get it right. The reality is if we change the policy to pursue in certain circumstances then we do increase the risk and inevitably there will be consequences."
Coster said the young people are still being held to account even without pursuits.
"We've laid literally hundreds of charges for young people involved in these ram raids. That in and of itself isn't going to solve the problem.
"It's an important thing to do but clearly, you're not going to send a bunch of under 15-year-olds to prison so where are the other solutions coming out of the community, coming out of understanding why these kids aren't well engaged.
"We can arrest them as much as you like but in the end, if they're back out and into the same environment where they did that in the first place - then that's where the problem sits."
