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Nineteen Auckland pupils have been arrested over a planned fight between groups of students from two secondary schools, police said today.
Sergeant Grant Watson said the confrontation in the west Auckland suburb of New Lynn yesterday was averted when officers went to Olympic Park in Portage Rd about 2.30pm.
"On arrival, police saw 20 students from a nearby secondary school had assembled in preparation for a fight with male students of another college," he said.
"However, there were no other college groups present."
The 20 students, one of whom had a rock in his possession, ran off but were caught by a large team of officers and taken into custody.
Mr Watson declined to name the schools.
He said there had been a similar incident last Friday when pupils from the other school gathered in New Lynn and five of them were arrested.
He said the incidents were not gang-related and police did not know why the rivalry between the two sets of pupils had escalated in recent weeks.
"No one can really answer that question, even the kids we spoke to."
Mr Watson said one possible reason was that it is personality-driven, with individuals encouraging their friends to support them to resolve their dispute by fighting.
He was hopeful the arrests and the action the schools themselves would take meant pupils would heed the warning about the consequences of such confrontations.
In yesterday's incident, five 17-year-old males were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly, and are due to appear in Waitakere District Court on Monday.
Fourteen others, aged 15 and 16, are due to appear in the Waitakere Youth Court on Tuesday facing similar charges.
All are on bail.
Of the five arrested last Friday, only one was charged. That person faces a count of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.
- NZPA
