Wairoa has an image problem, and it is one community leaders are struggling to change from the inside out.
Mayor Les Probert admits when people from out of town think of Wairoa they think "gang town".
And for the most part they could be forgiven.
It's hard to ignore the two highly publicised violent incidents in the town of just over 8400 in the past year involving gang members and guns.
Only a few days ago a 17-year-old Black Power associate was shot in the chest with a shotgun when he arrived at the Mongrel Mob head quarters with a carload of Black Power members at 3.30am.
In August a Mongrel Mob conflict resulted in two men being airlifted to Hawke's Bay Hospital with gunshot wounds and 25 fellow members being arrested after an internal fracas got out of hand.
Wairoa has had a long history of Mongrel Mob and Black Power conflict, most notably the fatal shooting of two men in a Marine Parade confrontation in 1988 and a fatal sniper shooting of a Black Power member in a van leaving town after a confrontation near the Wairoa Courthouse in 2003.
It appears police are resigned to this type of gang violence, with Senior Sergeant Craig Scottof the Gisborne CIB saying "these things flare up from time to time".
Wairoa Senior Sergeant Tony Bates said gang violence was simply a reality with two rival gangs in the small town.
"From time to time we have flare-ups but wherever you have gang members there is that risk."
When walking around the township you are hard-pressed to find any evidence of gang life apart from the odd piece of graffiti.
Mayor Les Probert maintains the gangs are "insignificant" in Wairoa.
"Wairoa is a safe place. The public are rarely involved and it's more often fighting among themselves.
"It's not a gang town at all, it's a town with a couple of gangs like anywhere in New Zealand. From the community's point of view we would like them out, but they keep to themselves."
An issue for the town was getting youth into work after school and away from being on the benefit and gang life, Mr Probert said.
Of the roughly 8400 people who live in Wairoa, 1357 are on a domestic purposes benefit.
Residents also do not see the gangs as affecting day-to-day life in the riverside town, but say the mentality of some youth is disturbing.
Diana Johansen said the town was "a great place to raise kids" but admitted some kids saw themselves as destined for a gang life.
"It's a social mentality that this is their lot. The hardest thing for a lot of people, when you have kids in their late teens, you see these kids aspiring to the mob."
Ms Johansen said despite this the gangs are "not really a huge issue to the majority of the Wairoa people".
Denise Whitmore said the town had a "stigma", though in her experience she had never been affected by gang activity.
"They're very isolated incidents. I rent to Mongrel Mob and Black Power members, it's a small town, one-on-one I generally don't have a problem with them."
Museum curator Jim Samson said Wairoa was a safe town but "there have been a few shootings, you can't get past that".
Ex-mayor Derek Fox said the town had to change their tactics when dealing with gangs - starting with young people.
"If all we are going to do is keep getting more policemen, what is that going to achieve? Nothing.
"I've had discussions with gangs about what they want and they say 'jobs'. The root cause is lack of work. It's to do with training, schooling."
Mr Fox said getting school leavers into a situation where they would get jobs and a career after school would minimise the numbers attracted to gang life, thought why any would be baffles him.
"For some reason there are all these kids running around wearing blue and red trying to be like these guys."
Wairoa College principal Brian Simpson said a challenge facing the school was keeping students engaged.
Mr Simpson said the wounded 17-year-old Black Power member "should have been in a job or in a training organisation" and the school was working to help others realise they can achieve through similar schemes.
Programmes like the service, agricultural and trades academies, along with the Cactus programme, "actually give students an opportunity to get an education and a focus towards a career". But Mr Simpson admits the school still struggles with some students' mentality that they are destined to a life in gangs or on the dole.
"We don't win with every kid, but we will keep battling on."
Mr Probert, holds the council's community portfolio, said some "younger people look to [gang members] like heroes" and the council was focusing on getting young people through college and into the workforce.
"We are not placing emphasis on gangs but the things we are intending to do in the future. Wairoa has got the potential to become an attractive tourist destination."
Looking beyond 'gang town' in Wairoa
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