A Hawke's Bay community leader says deploying more police will do little to address the underlying causes of gang conflict.
Extra police have been deployed to the region, and a gang conflict warrant has been placed after two serious assaultsbelieved to be linked to the Mongrel Mob and Black Power gangs.
The warrant gives officers power to search vehicles of suspected gang members and to seize firearms, weapons and vehicles.
It comes after a gang conflict warrant already in place for Levin had been extended to cover Manawatū as well on Tuesday, after police were fired on twice in two days in Palmerston North.
The gang conflict warrant was initially in place after gang-related shootings in Levin that began on August 18.
Henare O'Keefe, a long-time community worker in the township of Flaxmere, said it came as "no surprise".
"Whatever society lacks, family lacks, it just seems that the gangs are filling that void – whether it's manhood, or whānau, or love," he said.
"Unless we can fill that void, which obviously the gangs are substituting for, we're always going to go down this road."
O'Keefe described the violence as "sad" and said the real blame lay closer to home.
"It's an indictment on our families, on our community, and we're not going to legislate our way out of this.
"There is no way that is going to happen."
O'Keefe said the Government's crackdown on gangs was a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
He said that stronger parenting and nurturing homes were the key to preventing gang membership.
"I have always said the home is the alpha and omega. Good, consistent parenting - that is where it is at."
Extra police remain on patrol across Napier, Hastings, and Wairoa – as part of a gang conflict warrant in place throughout the Hawke's Bay on Saturday.
The police had used the warrant for three vehicle searches, and a 39-year-old Camberley man had been arrested for possession of an offensive weapon, Inspector Dean Clifford said.
"Across the Hawke's Bay, we have a focus on keeping people safe, and police will continue to have a highly visible presence.
"While there were no major incidents overnight, we remain ready to respond.
"I do want to thank the public for their support while we make ongoing enquiries into recent incidents and work to hold the offenders to account."
However, O'Keefe did not believe that there had been an increase in gang-related violence.
"There is no way gangs want notoriety. They prefer to operate under the radar.
"I don't think it's increased. If anything, it's decreased, because it's caused gangs to go underground and work smarter and not harder."
For O'Keefe, the answer came back to one simple human need.
"Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants a sense of value and importance, and that underpins everything we choose to do.
"Gangs, they see that as love, it gives them a sense of value and importance. Everybody wants that."
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