Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana wants to stop gang violence in Hawke's Bay by turning "gang colours to hi-vis colours".

Māori leaders around the region have come out in support of Eastern District Commander Superintendent Tania Kura's frank admission that police cannot stop the gangs on their own.

"This is well beyond police," she said on Tuesday.

"We need the help of the community and the whanau."

Tomoana said gangs had been an ongoing issue for years and would be a "forever problem", but he saw hope for a more stable secure future.

He said that future meant forming relationships with gang leaders to work together, rather than isolating them, and ensuring Māori families stayed healthy, strong and vibrant.

"We want people living together and longer."

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that there is a huge labour shortage in the Hawke's Bay area, and that more locals need to be trained. 

"In the early 60s and 70s when we did have a lot of gangs, they were all fully employed and able to contribute to the communities, and that sort of dissipated over the last thirty, forty years."