'Colours' ban works for Whakatane

Whakatane police have banned the wearing of gang patches and regalia in the town's streets since 2002.

The ban was imposed after a man was murdered in a brawl involving 30 gang members on The Strand, Whakatane's main street.

"We just had a gutsful," Detective Jon McKenzie of the local crime investigation bureau said. "We endeavoured to do something a little bit outside the square to get a result that was to make Whakatane a safe place."

Mr McKenzie said tension between rival gangs escalated after the murder, and gang regalia and colours were sparking further violence.

In one case, Black Power members assaulted an associate of a rival gang in the foyer of the police station after spotting a red scarf in his pocket.

As a result, police asked gang members seen with patches or regalia in public to remove them and made several prosecutions using provisions in the law for disorderly behaviour that is likely to incite violence.

Police were able to successfully argue that in the climate that existed in Whakatane at the time, wearing gang regalia was a catalyst for violence.

Prosecutions of that nature have not been made since the aftermath of the murder, but the ban is still policed informally and well known to gangs.

Mr McKenzie said the ban, though not bound by regulation, had been successful and he disagreed with the argument that such bans made it more difficult to identify gang members. "Any policeman worth his salt" knew the criminal elements in his area, he said.

He supported the move by Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws to ban gang regalia.