Praise for Kaikohe grandmother as more youths nabbed following Friday night rampage

The answer to Kaikohe's youth problems lies not in more police but in people such as the grandmother who reported her own mokopuna for taking part in last Friday's rampage, former Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels says.

Samuels praised the kuia, and the mother who took took her sons to Kaikohe police station on Tuesday, for having the courage to say "enough is enough" and do something about it.

"This is the only way we can address this problem. Whanau, hapu and iwi have to take ownership of it."

Samuels, a former Northland College student, agreed more police were needed in towns such as Kaikohe, but said that was the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and not a long-term solution.

Former Cabinet Minister Dover Samuels.

He said the the police and social development ministers should talk to the "inspirational" grandmother to understand the problems Northland families were facing.

Meanwhile, police are continuing to round up the youths involved on Friday night.

On Tuesday a Kaikohe mother delivered two more boys, aged 14 and 15, to the police station. They were referred to Youth Aid along with the boy whose name was given to police on Monday by his grandma, who was fed up with youth behaviour in the town.

"I have no problems in coming forward and naming any one of my mokos who is doing wrong. I get that people are getting really angry and upset about what these young boys are doing and have had enough. So have we," she wrote on a Facebook post dedicated to identifying the offenders.

Acting Far North police area commander Inspector Al Symonds said five youths had now been identified in relation to Friday night's incidents, including two caught on the night. Inquiries to find the others were continuing.

"We're really thankful to the whanau members for their help, they do not want this type of behaviour in the Kaikohe community and the community will no doubt see this as a positive sign," Symonds said.

Police would also have an increased presence focusing on youth in the Kaikohe area for the next few weekends.

Police were also reviewing their deployment plan, which sets out where officers are sent and when. Further details would be provided as soon as they were confirmed, he said.

The trouble started early on Friday evening when half a dozen youths entered The Shed liquor store on Marino Court and ran out with 10 boxes of beer.

Police quickly tracked them down to a party on nearby Shaw St but with just two officers, and a large number of adults at the party defending the youths, there was little they could do.

Later that night, about 1am, a group of about 20 youths as young as 11 tried to smash their way in to the Mobil service station on lower Broadway.

CCTV footage showed them repeatedly kicking the doors and throwing rocks at the glass.