The recently appointed Police Minister says she doesn't feel unsafe going out in New Zealand.
Appearing on AM on Friday, Andersen and National MP Erica Stanford were discussing the country's crime rates with host Ryan Bridge.
It comes after Andersen on Friday morning announced the Government was pumping another $9 million into its small retail crime prevention programme.
"I think there's definitely been a spike in youth crime," she admitted to Bridge. "That's post-COVID - so young people who were typically having a hard time getting to school anyway; when they had to stay home for a period of time, it's been hard to get those young people back engaged."
Andersen was then asked if she ever felt unsafe going out.
"Personally, no I don't - I have good confidence the police service provides for our community well and I'd like to point out that, in every one of these instances [of crime]... they follow up and they catch them," Andersen said.
She revealed since the Government introduced the small retail crime prevention programme, 900 shops have been assessed and equipped with extra security including bollards or fog cannons.
"The Government is making sure that victims of retail offending are supported, while also taking a pragmatic approach to make sure those who are offending are held to account and, where appropriate, into programmes to help get them back on the right track," Andersen said in an earlier statement.
Watch the full video for more.
