The Government's proposed crackdown on gang-related crime is being labelled an easy pre-election hit.
A multi-agency intelligence centre to deal with gang-related crime is being proposed, and steps are being considered including 24-hour GPS monitoring of some released prisoners and banning offenders with gang connections from owning firearms.
Labour's Jacinda Ardern said gangs were an easy hit for the Government and while it was great to share information between agencies, police needed more resources to deal with gangs.
“If there isn't enough resourcing to support these intiatives then we're just simply going to see money moved from one part of police operations to another.”
But Prime Minister John Key said gangs were at the forefront of the manufacture and distribution of drugs.
“They are the critical distribution unit in New Zealand,” he said.
“So naturally having, I think, dealt with a lot of the low-hanging fruit when it comes to crime, if we're really serious about getting the crime rate lower, we have to go into where the more difficult issues are.”
