Dunedin police yesterday moved to reassure the public they were closely scrutinising gang activity in the city, and working to move at least a few gang members out of Pine Hill.
Police spent yesterday focusing on the movements of individual gang members and vehicles, doing bail checks and keeping an eye on gang pads.
Two members of the Mongrel Mob and four from Black Power have been arrested and are on bail, with conditions including 24-hour curfews, after an armed confrontation between the two gangs in Liberton last Sunday.
Gang activity in the city has heightened in the past week as the men go through the court system.
Emergency response commander Inspector Alastair Dickie said police were checking those individuals on a regular basis and any found breaching bail would be arrested and charged.
Conditions imposed by the court meant only one Black Power member was to occupy a property on Pine Hill Rd, and that residence was being closely monitored by police.
The same attention was being given to the Mongrel Mob.
He said police would be watching the movements of individuals and vehicles and exercising powers under the Crimes Act to do searches and seize any weapons found. Arrests would be made if items were located.
No arrests were made yesterday.
Police and property owners were working together to see if a relocation plan could be worked out to move gangs in the Pine Hill area away from each other, and to lessen the "gang profile" in the suburb, he said.
Proactive policing teams and community constables were also working to reassure the public, with personal visits to those directly affected by recent incidents, including neighbouring properties.
Police iwi liaison officers were also communicating with the gangs to encourage co-operation and further "de-escalate" the present situation.
"It is important to remember that the shooting incident which occurred on Sunday was a specific confrontation between the two groups of people involved.
Members of the public should feel reassured that Dunedin police are working at several different levels to reduce the tension between these two groups, and to ensure the safety of the wider community," Insp Dickie said.
