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A proposed law banning gang patches in public places would be ineffective and would result in police officers being attacked while enforcing it, says a former detective who is now a leading gang expert.
Cam Stokes, who was Auckland's top gang detective, told Parliament's law and order select committee that while the ban was well-intentioned and would be popular with the public, it would not work.
"Gang members are unlikely to surrender their 'colours' lightly, particularly when they know they have to forfeit them to the Crown," he said.
"Gang members are expected to do all they can to prevent this from happening. Good police officers are going to get hurt."
If passed, the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill would ban patches and even gang colours or tattoos in Wanganui. Police would be able to arrest the wearer, seize the offending items and impose a $5000 fine.
The measure could later be adopted by other places in New Zealand.
Mr Stokes told the Herald the proposed law was partly a product of Wanganui mayor Michael Laws' "grandstanding".
He and another former gang detective appeared in secret before the committee so investigative methods would not be revealed publicly, but his written submissions were made available.
Mr Stokes headed Auckland's motorcycle police gang unit when he quit, disillusioned with the police's lack of a coherent organised crime strategy. He is now a drug education consultant. He said his former police colleagues, particularly gang detectives, were against the bill because it would make gang members harder to identify and therefore investigate.
He said valuable police resources would be wasted on court hearings, because gang members would do all they could to avoid losing their patches.
Mr Stokes said he had sympathy for the people of Wanganui, which has been beset with gang problems, but he did not believe anti-gang measures should be introduced "piecemeal".
Police did not appear before the committee, but a delegation including Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls was present.
The bill passed its first reading 106-13. The Greens, the Maori Party and Act opposed it.
