The Government is pumping another $11 million into a scheme to help businesses purchase fog cannons as the latest data shows an increase in ram raids over the past month.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made the announcement at today’s post-Cabinet press conference.

The Government has already poured tens of millions of dollars into support for retail and commercial premises that have been targeted in a dramatic post-pandemic spike in ram raids - a loose term to describe break-ins where people crash often-stolen vehicles into stores to then steal items.

It comes as crime looks to become a key issue ahead of the general election in October amid reports of businesses closing and owners fearing death, while Opposition parties demand stronger penalties for offenders.

This Government’s response to the increasing numbers of ram raids and aggravated burglaries last year largely consisted of two programmes providing security measures to small business owners and expanding multi-agency efforts to identify young offenders within 24 hours of the offence in areas like Auckland and Hamilton.

The funding for the Fog Cannon Subsidy Scheme provides a $4000 subsidy to qualifying businesses.

Hipkins said on Thursday he would be attending a police graduation that would achieve the goal of 1800 new police officers increasing the ratio of police to general population to 1 to 480 compared to 1 to 544 when Labour took office in 2017.

Police Minister Ginny Andersen said the scheme was very popular, with already 582 fog cannons installed since February and 1164 applications approved.

 “I’ve seen first-hand the difference fog cannons are making. Not only do they help prevent crime, but they also give retailers peace of mind.”

The Government had also expanded a circuit breaker programme targeting recidivist child offenders into Hamilton, Christchurch and Auckland City while working towards a target of 1800 more police officers on the front line.

“Fog cannons can help deter ram raids and burglary and reduce the risk of people being harmed,” Andersen said.

“The dense cloud of fog is highly disorienting and prevents attackers from targeting cash, stock, or workers.

“Small retailers have told me the scheme is working well. For many small retailers, the upfront cost of a fog cannon is beyond their budget.”

Ram raids peaked in August last year when 116 were recorded. They declined steadily to 44 in Feburary, which is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic years when figures rarely rose above 20 a month.

The latest figures to April show a small increase to 68 - more than twice a day.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Police Minister Ginny Andersen are expected to announce extra funding during a post-Cabinet press conference from 4pm today.

The Retail Crime Prevention Programme was set up last year amid a dramatic post-pandemic spike in ram raids.

The Government also had a fog cannon subsidy, managed through MBIE.

The programmes have assisted hundreds of stores that were a victim of a ram raid or aggravated robbery to purchase items including fog cannons, security sirens, alarms, CCTV systems or system upgrades, bollards or similar security measures, roller doors, and other interventions that include improved lighting/strengthened windows.

The two programmes targeting young offenders included Kotahi te Whakaaro, which combined members from police, Oranga Tamariki, the health and education sectors, Kāinga Ora, the Ministry of Social Development, local non-government agencies and iwi to review cases of those aged between 14-17 caught in the preceding 24 hours.

The other was an early intervention programme, dubbed the “circuit-breaker”, for children aged 10-13 and which operated in a similar way to Kotahi te Whakaaro.

In Budget 2023, the circuit-breaker programme was expanded into Auckland City, Hamilton and Christchurch after being piloted in South Auckland.

By the end of March, 82 per cent of the 147 children referred to Kotahi te Whakaaro had not reoffended. For the circuit-breaker programme, 67 of the 84 children referred had not been re-referred.

Andersen recently told the Herald she regularly had meetings with a variety of retail store owners to discuss their experiences to get direct feedback on how the Government could

In November last year, the Labour Government announced new measures to combat rising retail crime which included a fog cannon subsidy scheme open to all small shops and dairies in New Zealand.

The announcement came days after the murder of Sandringham shopkeeper Janak Patel.

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the time while youth crime “is now much lower than in the past, the risks and harm from ram raids and other retail crime is concerning communities and creating victims”.

Hipkins is also likely to face questions about the Labour Party conference over the weekend and National withdrawing from a bipartisan accord to increase medium-density housing.

Hipkins could also be asked about the inaugural review into the Intelligence and Security Act that recommended the Prime Minister and Ministers - the executive - be prohibited from Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee to ensure it maintains independence.