Police Minister Chris Hipkins admits more needs to be done to get youth offenders off the street as crime continues to escalate.
After months of brazen and violent crime, the Government on Wednesday announced a suite of measures to crack down on gangs - promising to "hit them where it hurts".
But there's also been a spate of robberies at dairies and jewellery stores - in some cases committed by children as young as 12 years old.
However, Hipkins told AM that, in some cases, harsher penalties weren't necessarily the answer - instead more preventative action was needed.
"It's not acceptable, the sort of escalation in behaviour particularly around youth offending that we've seen with ram raids and smash and grabs - it's not OK and we do need to continue to take action to follow up on those cases," Hipkins told host Melissa Chan-Green.
"We've also got to take action to make sure we're getting those kids off the streets and into something more constructive. We're never going to be able to have a police officer outside every shop or outside every business, 24/7, so what we've got to do is make sure that we're reducing that level of offending in the first place."
The Police Minister said preventative measures meant "getting those kids engaged in something that's far more meaningful".
"I can absolutely assure… that the police are following up on all of those crimes. They are absolutely committed - I know the police are working really hard to address the issues created by those offenders but we've got to do more as a country and as a Government to make sure that we're preventing as much of that activity as we possibly can."
The Government was "looking very closely at youth offending; what more we can do in that area", Hipkins said.
He said there would be more announcements around addressing youth crime "in due course".
"I haven't got announcements on that to make today but I can give you some assurance that we're working at speed to work out further solutions to those problems.
"We will also look at: are there things we can do to support businesses through this to make sure that… there's good follow-through where these sorts of incidents occur?"
Asked about the new gang measures and whether they were a sign the Government was getting tougher on crime, Hipkins said he rejected such terminology.
"It's easy to talk tough," he said. "Actually, what you've got to do is look and say, 'Where are the gaps in the law? What are the extra tools that we can give police that will actually make a difference?'
"We've seen tough talk before that hasn't actually resulted in tougher action."
Wednesday's announced measures were designed to "really target" gang activity and disrupt their illegal operations, he said.
"I don't have any tolerance for gang-related criminal offending but I don't just want to drive it underground."
ACT Party leader David Seymour said he was "astonished" it had taken the Government this long to announce a crackdown.
Seymour told AM Early his party had been pushing for new measures for months and said it was good to finally see something done.
"It's very encouraging," he said. "What the Government's just done is a massive U-turn. It's far too late, given the amount of gang activity that's out there - but it's very encouraging.
"At least now the Government is starting to get to root causes and practical cause and effect thinking."
