Gangs crackdown: Jarrod Gilbert - Government's law change a political response - but the right one

OPINION:

The gang laws announced today were winners not so much in what they will do - but in what they won't. Let me explain.

Make no bones about it, the gang proposals are a political response to a problem the Government feared was doing them damage.

The gangs are in a period of growth and a string of high-profile violent events – including a gang war – have raised concern, and a response was assured.

Police had already acted by establishing operations Tauwhiro and Cobalt to strongly target the gangs involved.

But the other game in town is how this plays out politically. The gang violence has been manna from heaven for Opposition parties, who have been able to beat the drum that things are going to hell in a handbasket and only they can fix it.

An armed police officer in Beach Haven, Auckland after a drive-by shooting in June 2022. Photo / Hayden Woodward

It's tempting to see this as a left and right issue but, in reality, it's a Government and opposition issue. The last time we saw events play out like this – in the mid 1990s – the situation was reversed and Labour was in opposition and National in government.

The playbook was nevertheless remarkably similar. It goes like this: the Opposition howls in protest and blusters about having the solutions, the government appeals for calm and rational approaches, but is eventually forced into doing something. Anything. Just to stop the political damage.

In the 1990s the response was average, if not awful. It resulted in laws being introduced that were not used or used against non-gang members more than the gang members they were targeting.

So what has the Government done this time? Well, they have proposed five measures:

• The creation of a new offence targeting the shooting of guns in public (to target gang drive-by shootings)

• Expanding the existing vehicle impounding regime (to target unruly riding in packs of outlaw motorcyclists)

• A new power to seize cash found in suspicious circumstances (to tackle organised crime)

• Prohibiting cash payments for specified goods (to target ill-gotten gains)

• New warrant and search powers to target weapons (an attempt to stop the escalation of gang wars)

A bullet hole through a home's window after a drive-by shooting in Manurewa, Auckland in May 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell

The creation of a new firearms offence seems to fill a gap in the existing legislation by strengthening penalties available, so appears eminently sensible. The expansion of the vehicle impounding regime may stop certain erratic and dangerous driving behaviour, and appears uncontroversial to me.

Both offences around seizing cash and regulating certain cash transactions are well-targeted and, importantly, on face value raise no issues to concern people conducting legitimate business.

So far so good.

The Government's crackdown includes expanding the existing vehicle impounding regime to target unruly riding in packs of outlaw motorcyclists. Photo / NZ Police

The new warrant powers will need the closest scrutiny. When significantly increasing police powers we must always be extremely careful. But even in the brief details that have been released, there are a number of caveats on their use and they are only proposed to be open for a short time.

And here's where I think this approach is at its best – that the Government has shown restraint. It has not looked to overreach with laws and powers that sound dramatic (there are a few of those ideas floating around) but may, in fact, create more harm than good and be more about gaining votes than seeking solutions.

Careful targeting and restraint are both factors that research I conducted recently found were important in introducing new measures such as these. Another was that non-legislative efforts need to be acknowledged. And they have been. Both the ministers of justice and police who launched these proposed new laws talked about the need to see the gangs in a broader context and seek preventative approaches.

Ministers Chris Hipkins and Kiri Allan announce a suite of measures to help police tackle gangs and intimidating behaviour. Photo / Dean Purcell

I have to tip my hat to that.

These aren't solutions that will solve the gang issue, but they are tools to add to the kit.

The Police Association's Chris Cahill says the proposed laws are a "solid start" and the detail will need to be seen to best assess them. I agree with him, and I'd like to see specific ways of measuring the laws considered, as it's important to judge if they are used and effective.

Only time will tell us that, but on face value these measures do look as though they will be useful - but far more importantly than that, the Government has successfully walked a tightrope between taking action and acting up.

Make no mistake, this was a political response to the beat of the Opposition drum, but the measures give every indication of avoiding the politicised mistakes we have seen in the past. And, frankly, the mistakes I feared would occur.

• Dr Jarrod Gilbert is a sociologist at the University of Canterbury and the director of Independent Research Solutions