After a third infringement, they won’t be allowed to possess anything with a gang patch or live in a house that has anything with a patch on it – even if it isn’t theirs.
Richard Prebble is a former Labour Party minister and Act Party leader. He currently holds a number of directorships.
OPINION
On TV Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni confessed she did not know how the party would vote on the gang patch law. The href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gang-crackdown-labour-rips-into-governments-legislation-to-ban-gang-insignia-in-public-and-gathering-in-groups/CHKOBZ5QYNC5VLYOULOMLRTHRY/" target="_blank">Labour MPs know that gangs are unpopular but must also know that it is bad law.
What we wear is a form of expression. A society is not free when hated minorities cannot express their opinion.
Gangs will easily evade the law by adopting colours, leading to cases of mistaken identity, or, like Japanese gangsters, adopt distinctive tattoos making gang membership a mark for life.
More worrying is if the law works. Could the police have arrested the entire Christchurch chapter of the Comancheros gang if the gang members had not helpfully self-identified?
The mafia so liked the movie The Godfather that they copied the movie mafia dress code. For the first time law enforcement could identify mafia members. It was a breakthrough in fighting organised crime.
When visiting America as Minister of Transport, the Shipping Corporation had me meet their American partners. They looked like the mafia in a Hollywood movie. I reported my suspicions to the Auditor-General. The audit revealed that they were the mafia - and had stolen $18 million.
Gangs are largely the consequence of successive government policy failures. Gangs were a minor social problem until the Muldoon government decided to do something about gangs.
Government Public Employment Programme (PEP) schemes provided work for gang members. It created an economic incentive to join a gang.
The Muldoon government gave community grants for areas thought to have a serious gang problem.
My Auckland Central electorate was chosen to be a recipient.
We had no gangs. At the public meeting, angry constituents wanted to send the money back. Saner heads prevailed. Why should our youth miss out because they had not joined gangs?
Auckland Central did not have gangs but we did have five league clubs. Any youth who showed any aggression was recruited to play league. The clubs did not allow the wearing of gang patches at the grounds or clubrooms. After practising three times a week and then playing on Saturday no one had any energy to join a gang.
'Gangs are largely the consequence of successive government policy failures.'
Successive government gang policies have increased gang membership.
When I was Minister of Police I got the Police a helicopter. The first apprehended were notorious bank robbers. It turned out they were all gang members, all on a work scheme. The taxpayer was subsidising crime.
The Ardern government granted a gang a contract to run a drug rehabilitation programme. I admit there is a certain symmetry. The gangs were able to offer a total service. Some gang members supplied drugs for addiction and other gang members supplied the rehabilitation.
Prison is the gangs’ recruitment centre. Governments start the recruitment process by imposing impossible-to-pay automatic traffic fines leading to eventual imprisonment for nonpayment, gang membership and a life of crime.
Gangs are a social curse. The Government is right to target gangs but needs to be smarter.
The police advised me as minister that there was a serious gang problem in several provincial towns. Gangs were recruiting faster than the police could arrest.
I was vice-president of Māori Rugby League. The local league clubs said they had many young men who wanted to play who could not afford boots, jerseys and club fees.
I approached the breweries. They were happy to help. The sponsorship immediately increased player numbers and reduced gang recruitment. It worked and will work today.
Here is another policy that will work.
There was a burglary epidemic. We decided to assist volunteers to form community groups to keep watch over their neighbourhood. It cost an advertising campaign and a few stickers. It was a huge success.
Instead of condemning the volunteers who have been keeping the Ōrewa Community Police station open the Minister should be finding ways to support them.
In Japan they have a highly-trained national police force recruited from university graduates able to take on organised crime. The Japanese have a separate community police force that is in every neighbourhood and rural village. The community policeman knows everyone including the naughty boys. If you move into the neighbourhood, within a week the community policeman will introduce himself.
Community police could help with organising neighbourhood watch and guide at-risk youth to sports clubs rather than gangs.
The Government should pay our police well, so they do not leave for Australia. The 500 new extra police should be a community police force. Middle-aged women will be best. Young men, who do most crime, are psychologically programmed from birth to obey women who look like their mothers.
The ultimate law enforcement tool and protection for the public would be if criminals voluntarily wore large signs saying what gangs they belonged to - but the Government has just made that illegal.
