Welcome to the new week, New Zealand styles. Do you think Poto Williams might have been over the crime news for the first day of the week yesterday? 

One gang shot up another gang's headquarters because one of the gang's mates got shot up at a strip club. So, a lot of gangs and a lot of shootings. 

Downtown Auckland, the bit they want the tourists to wander up when the cruise ships return, if they return, got a couple of ram raids. One at Gucci and one at Louis Vuitton. That, by the way, was the second ram raid on at least one of those outlets. As the police will often tell you, once they've done it, they will do it again. 

In general terms, they will do it again until either someone gets stuck in jail or it gets a bit hard to back a car through a window. 

Williams may well be surprised. I think she is still rejecting the premise of Mark Mitchell's question in Parliament as to whether she has seen a rise in gang-related activity since her party has been in power. 

To be clear, the shootings, although almost certainly gang related, may not have extended to the downtown ram raids. They may have in fact simply been executed by some poor misunderstood group in emergency housing on the job seeker benefit that haven't had enough wrap around services wrapped around them. 

The sadness for real estate is we were talking to an agent last week who was talking up downtown as the place to be and how demand for top level apartments was hot, as people love the convenience of stepping out to any number of restaurants. But assuming those restaurants are still open and have staff, security on the way to dinner may be an issue.   

A couple of weekends back, a young man and his girlfriend stepped out for kebabs, and he got shot. 

As Claire Trevett quite rightly pointed out in the Herald over the weekend, statistics don't matter. Nor does it matter whether the crime was committed by gangs or just thugs. How you feel is what counts. 

And how you feel, in part, is made up of your neighbourhood and the stories you hear. 

The stories I heard yesterday reminds me that Williams is out of her depth, the Government is in denial, and we live in violent and troubled times. There are too many guns, too many shootings, and too many people operating with perceived impunity. 

Those who support strong and effective law and order are losing the battle. Kelvin Davis would probably tell you it’s the price for doing things differently.