Budget23 law and order spending: Early youth crime intervention scheme expanded

An early intervention programme the government says has cut youth reoffending and ram raids will be rolled out to more centres under funding in Budget 2023.

So far only operating in Counties Manukau and Waitākere, the scheme will soon expand to Hamilton, Christchurch and Auckland City.

"With a strong focus on a core group of repeat serious and persistent offenders aged 10-13, the initial rollout of the intervention in Counties Manukau and Waitākere has been incredibly successful alongside the Kotahi te Whakaaro programme," Minister for Children and Correction Kelvin Davis said.

Kotahi te Whakaaro is a joint agency response aimed at helping under-18s in Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato keep out of trouble.

The early intervention programme was launched in November last year.

"Only 28 percent of those referred from the fast-track, or 'circuit breaker', pilot through to the multi-agency teams have been referred again, showing the impact quick support can have," Davis said.

"The approach ensures once a child is identified or apprehended by police for offending behaviour, information is shared with Oranga Tamariki within 24 hours, a referral is completed, and an agreed plan developed by community providers within 48 hours."

In April, the government said it had more than halved the number of ram raids being carried out, compared to mid-2022.

Of the 84 children dealt with, 67 of them had not reoffended.

Police Minister Ginny Andersen said on Thursday more investment would be made over the next year into setting up the firearms registry.

The Budget contained extra funding for recruiting and retaining more police and the nationwide rollout of the Tactical Response Model, announced in March.

"Police will be safer, better trained, and will have improved intelligence capabilities as a result of this investment," Andersen said.

"We will soon reach our goal of 1800 additional frontline officers, but it's important we don't go backwards. $50.8 million has been initially allocated for population-based funding increases to ensure the record gains we've made with 1800 extra police over five and half-years are not lost.

"This funding will ensure we maintain the current ratio of at least one officer to every 480 New Zealanders, a huge improvement of one officer to every 544 New Zealanders when we came into government in 2017."

Other law and order funding in the Budget included:

• $7.2m for "ongoing development of Victims Operating Model"
• $39.8m to "improve access to legal aid and reduce debt for low-income New Zealanders"
• $8.2m to "speed up delays in the coronial system to better support bereaved families and whānau"
• $26.9m to "prevent harm in communities from organised crime through Police's Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities programme and Transnational Organised Crime Strategy"