Justice Minister says 'prevention and intervention' crucial to dealing with violent crime

Justice Minister Kiri Allan says the government will focus on prevention and intervention when looking to reduce the rates of violent crime.

Allan has already met with newly appointed Police Minister Chris Hipkins to discuss whether they had got the legal settings right and to determine what more the government could do.

Allan said victims need to be "honoured and upheld throughout the justice process".

There had been a significant under-investment in the way that victims received support for several years and across several governments, she said.

The latest Budget increased resources in this area, she said.

"Particularly as they navigate through and get the restoration from the process, so that's making sure that they have the access to counselling and the remedial things that they need to have to get their lives back on track."

In terms of crime, prevention was always better than cure, Allan said.

"So we're always going to have to look at what types of prevention and intervention needs to happen before we get into some of the more devastating impacts of crime and criminal justice that we see at the outer end of the limits."

A spike in violent crime over the last couple of months was making people feel unsafe, Allan said.

Allan said she and Police Minister Chris Hipkins were firstly looking at whether front-line police had the right tools to be able to do their jobs.

"We've upped the policing frontline budget by $562 million just to get I guess the resources for police to be out there on the beat."

But Allan said prevention was also key and there were multiple reports suggesting it was possible to identify young people who were likely to enter the criminal justice system.

"So is the state doing the right thing at the right time? And this has been a large focus for our government."

Allan said in terms of dealing with gang it was a matter of working with police to ensure they had the right tools.