New Plymouth's mayor has told local businesses the police will be taking more action against groups of homeless people causing trouble in the central city.
Neil Holdom told an invite-only forum on the rough sleepers issue - organised in conjuction with the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce - that the problem was getting worse.
"We have two challenges, one is rough sleeping and homelessness and the second is lawlessness in a certain part of town.
"I've got members of my own family who feel unsafe walking in town."
Holdom said he and New Plymouth MP David McLeod had a positive meeting with the new acting district commander Andrew Fabish.
"He's got some experience dealing with these kinds of problems in Wellington and Rotorua and he's pretty keen to assist us dealing with the lawless element that we've got in town."
Holdom said that could involve using the existing CCTV in the city.
"There's an indication they will go through the footage - and they are high quality cameras - and that they will be making arrests when they can identify the people offending and find them."
Holdom said there was a group of people circulating among the genuinely homeless, who had homes to go to and were simply looking for trouble.
A renewed focus on police was welcomed by many in the council chamber.
One businessman said his daughter who worked in a central city mall was unable to walk to her favourite cafe without being harassed.
"Do you know what this guy is saying to young women and girls?" he asked Holdom.
"We are told that these people are harmless ... there are three we consider dangerous and one we thought was okay who is now on drugs and becoming dangerous.
"We don't have powers of arrest and the police are just not there."
He questioned whether the daycare centre and primary school adjacent to a proposed rough sleepers shelter at the YMCA would be safe.
A woman, whose business was adjacent to where rough sleepers gathered, said the shelter would not solve the problems she faced during business hours.
She had collected 100 signatures from people who felt unsafe when they visited her store.
On the verge of quitting her business, she suggested the homeless be able to use the subterranean level of the council carpark during the day.
Other forum goers wondered if the council could make it easier for people to build tiny homes on larger sections to ease the housing crisis or if there were financial incentives available for people who took a homeless person in.
One person asked if the Ministry of Justice's proceeds of crime fund could be used to help those organisations trying to help rough sleepers.
But frustration was the order of the day.
"We have put up with this for two years now and there has to be consequences," said another business owner. "I see drugs deals going down. I have to walk clients and staff back to their cars because they feel unsafe."
A retiree, who's son now ran his menswear store, was horrified at what had become of Devon Street.
"It's a disgrace. I love retail, it's been my life and it's pitiful. Somethings got to happen."
A woman, who said she was a former chair of Waimanako / The Hope Centre where many homeless people down on their luck got free meals and could seek support, said the new shelter would just be a "band-aid".
"Our problem is during the daytime."
With Waimanako / The Hope Centre's days numbered due its imminent demolition as part of a council urban regeneration project, she said it was time to think about its relocation.
There, she was on the same page as mayor Holdom.
"We've got to find a place that works for these people that have pretty much fallen through our welfare safety net and are somewhat lost," he said.
"The Taranaki Retreat [which runs Waimanako] they're good people and they're trying to help and they are making a difference, so we're looking for a place that's close to town but not in the centre of town.
"And we're looking to stand something up where we can treat these people with compassion, but also bring back a semblance of safety and law and order to the CBD because it literally feels like we are being held hostage by a small number of challenging people."
