Parents who are drunk and let their children run riot at night are one of the factors behind an upsurge of youth crime in Kaikohe this summer.
A police crackdown in the Mid North town has now netted 11 young offenders accused of more than 30 burglaries targeting schools, shops, cafes and homes.
A break-in at Trumps Cafe in January - the 17th in three years - was widely reported when it proved the last straw for owners Waa and Lorraine Whareaitu. The cafe shut down for good on Tuesday. Several of the youths involved in that break-in have now been arrested.
Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan said police were working hard to target youth offenders in the town. Information from the community had played a key role in the operation's success so far.
Detective Sergeant Chris Fouhy said family problems were behind much of the spate of youth offending.