Police blitz youth gangs in city

Police have been clamping down on young criminals - many of whom are aligned to Whangarei's youth gangs.
About two or three youngsters a day have been arrested over the past three weeks as part of an operation targeting youth offenders.
Sergeant Anaru Roberts said youths were responsible for about 20 percent of burglaries and car thefts in the region.
Some of the youngsters were being used by adults to sell drugs, he said.
A police operation in the Whangarei Central Business District is aimed at identifying and targeting key players in the various youth groups, and is due to finish soon.
Young offenders were getting the message, Mr Roberts said.
"The word's getting out that we have a unit concentrating on them."
Though the youngsters' profile in the CBD had reduced in recent weeks, crime was still being committed.
Three or four youths are believed to be responsible for stealing hundreds of dollars worth of property from vehicles parked in a Whangarei carpark on Friday.
Six cars were broken into at the Sky City Cinema carpark on John St between 9am and 3pm, with CDs, stereos, groceries and digital cameras stolen.
Though no arrests had yet been made for that crime, police caught a 12-year-old boy and his 14-year-old accomplice with stolen alcohol and jewellery from a Whau Valley Rd property at the weekend. The pair also admitted doing two other burglaries on the same street. They have been charged with three counts of burglary and referred to Youth Aid.
Mr Roberts said 12 years of age was young, but not unheard of, for committing such crimes in the region. "Unfortunately it's a sign of the times."
Most of the youth offenders were Maori, and they usually worked in groups of about three or four, he said.
"It's sad, very sad," said Mr Roberts, who is Maori himself.
"It's a lack of parenting, lack of supervision and lack of caring. It doesn't start overnight ... they get into youth gangs and they duplicate other gangs that they see around."
The operation comes hard on the heels of "Operation Clean Streets", aimed at reducing intimidating behaviour and inner-city disorder by youths.
The operation ran over three weekends until September 10, with no arrests made.
"Our target audience kept very quiet in town," stated a police report to the Whangarei District Council.
At the conclusion of the current operation, police should be in a position to establish a "fulltime, proactive response to youth problems", the report said.
It would coincide with a review of camera operations in the city while discussions with Maori wardens, who are again prominent in the CBD, would "hopefully" put foundations around their relationship with police.
* YOUTH CLAMPDOWN
• Many of those being arrested belong to youth gangs.
• Some are being used by adults to sell drugs.
• The youngest offender netted so far is 12.
• Lack of parental supervision is blamed.
• Police hope to set up fulltime proactive response to youth crime and review camera operations.