Police are encouraging members of the public to be vigilant about reporting suspicious activity, as Dunedin's gangs continue recruiting new members.
The recruitment was particularly worrying because gang members continued to arm themselves, Dunedin emergency response manager Inspector Alistair Dickie said.
Gang members did not usually target non-gang people but, as an incident in which a member of the public was stabbed in Stuart St on Wednesday by someone in a group of alleged Mongrel Mob prospects showed, it could happen.
In that case, the 26-year-old victim narrowly missed being wounded seriously when he was stabbed in the chest and neck.
The officer investigating the stabbing, Detective Sergeant John Hedges, said police were still trying to work out the circumstances surrounding the incident.
No arrest had been, but police were following several leads, he said.
Insp Dickie said if people saw something and sensed a fight was about to start they should call 111 immediately.
"We just want people to be alert, so we can get there and try and stop it happening."
In February, it was reported that police had recovered numerous weapons found in the cars of gang members or on their person.
The situation remained unchanged, with several incidents in recent days showing gang members were still arming themselves, he said.
On Tuesday, police were called to an incident in which Mongrel Mob members were brandishing pieces of wood and crowbars outside a Green Island address.
The five members exchanged words with a resident before leaving the scene.
