The law banning gang patches in public places comes into force tomorrow. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The law banning gang patches in public places comes into force tomorrow. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Opinion by Denis O'Reilly
THREE KEY FACTS
In the 1970s, young Māori men joined gangs like the Mongrel Mob, Black Power and the Nomads.
The Mongrel Mob is New Zealand’s largest gang – in 2018, it had more than 1,000 members.
There are more than 7000 patched gang members in New Zealand.
Denis O’Reilly has operated in the gang sector since 1972, initially as an active gang member of the Black Power, then as a senior public servant operationalising government policy following the 1981 Committee on Gangs. He patched down in 2011 and took on the role of a pakeke, a kaumātua and life member of the “Whanau of the Fist”.
Mark Mitchell is proving to be an excellent Minister of Emergency Management.
Whether that competence extends to his role as Minister of Police is yet to be seen.
It is ironic that the introduction of suppressive gang laws is contemporaneous with the apology last week by the Prime Minister for Abuse in Care by the Crown of the grandparents and parents of the current members of Aotearoa’s indigenous gangs, the Government’s clear intent to increase the number of Māori prison inmates, and the hīkoi to support Te Tiriti.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell during his walkabout with a police beat section in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It is a confluence of cause and effect, and like Donald Trump’s presidency, it’s difficult to predict where it will lead. Each action engenders a reaction.
True that. Prebble also said that prison is the gangs’ recruitment centre and that “a society is not free when hated minorities cannot express their opinions”.
I’m a ceaseless optimist. I believe that the people of Aotearoa are essentially good and that the power of good is stronger than the power of evil.
But even then, I appreciate that we will need cool heads, calm hands and careful words in the days ahead, as the gang suppression policy rolls out.
Mitchell has called the Mongrel Mob “stupid”.
I’m an unlikely apologist for them, but I’d like to point out that one of their number, Harry Tam, elicited an apology from Winston Peters, without recourse to the courts, over the latter’s incautious allegations.
Hardly an indicator of stupidity?
Lifetime Black Power member Denis O'Reilly. Photo / Stephen Robinson
On the other hand, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi described police raids on gangs in Ōpōtiki and down the East Coast as “state-sponsored terrorism”.
I understand the sentiment but wouldn’t describe the behaviour like that – not yet anyway.
Waititi’s views stem from the reality that when executing a search warrant, particularly where firearms are potentially involved, police tend to come in forcefully with boots of lead. It can be scary, especially to kaumātua and mums and tamariki (children) living in a targeted whare (house).
It is true some police officers act with unnecessary force. On the other hand, shock and awe tactics are in part a protective measure to ensure that the policemen and women involved in the raid themselves get home safely to their own whānau.
The Police Oath is that: “Without favour or affection, malice or ill-will, until legally discharged; to see and cause His Majesty’s peace to be kept and preserved; to prevent to the best of my power all offences against the peace.”
