Larry Williams Drive

Well, you can’t keep a good idea down, can you?Strike Force Raptor is back! Do you remember that? That was Simon Bridges' big crime plan when he was the National Party leader in opposition. He announced a dedicated anti-gang police squad called Strike Force Raptor which would go around "harassing and disrupting gangs every single day”. He was mocked for it and the idea was put to bed.And guess what Police Commissioner Andrew Coster just announced today - it's basically the same thing. He's not calling it Strike Force Raptor, but that’s basically what it is, it's a specialised National Gang Unit across the country.We're still a little bit light on detail today, Coster couldn't say how many officers there would be or what the targets would be and I'm guessing some of these questions may be answered in the Budget in a couple of weeks.But the the bones of the idea are there, and it's a pretty good idea. Because it's worked in Australia. Strike Force Raptor wasn't our idea, it was set up in New South Wales in 2009