Police warned minister implementing new gang laws this year could cause safety risks, loss of trust and confidence

Police had concerns with implementing the Government’s new gang laws this year, including safety risks and a potential loss of public trust and confidence, ministerial briefings reveal.

The Gangs Bill, expected to pass its third reading in the House next week, gives police a range of new powers to crack down on gangs, including the ability to disperse gatherings and ban insignia in public.

It’s set to come into force on November 21, but in March police warned Minister Mark Mitchell key tasks would be unlikely to be completed if the laws were implemented this year.

Police said reducing the commencement timeframe could “expose frontline staff to safety risk – if the 10,000 frontline staff are not adequately trained in the new policies and processes”.

However, Police Minister Mitchell said he was “very confident” police would be adequately trained and have systems prepared and ready to go in November.

Police told Newstalk ZB officers were being prepared to enforce the new laws in November, but Police Association president Chris Cahill said this timeframe is “certainly going to put some pressure on police”.

“It’s not like police have a lot of free time as it is – we’re pretty stretched resource-wise even to get the training done, much less to start policing it.”

Police Association president Chris Cahill says the timeframe will put pressure on officers. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The briefing, released under the Official Information Act, stated Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith wanted to shorten the commencement timeframe, bringing the laws into force this year.

On top of safety risks, police advised this could result in “powers not being used to full effect or being inconsistently enforced” if ICT systems aren’t in place, or affect the data collection and verification processes needed for reporting on the new laws’ effectiveness.

It also warned any of these impacts could “create the potential for a loss of trust and confidence in police and the Government”.

The Ministry of Justice regulatory impact assessment also advised gang members could defy the ban in places where enforcement was challenging, and that risked undermining public confidence in law and order.

A police briefing in April, the following month, emphasised implementation earlier than February 2025 would be challenging, but proposed a start date of November 21 to avoid the laws coming into force during the busy Christmas period.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he's confident police will be well equipped to enforce the law in November.

Assistant Commissioner of Investigations Paul Basham said work was under way to ensure police officers were equipped with the information and guidance needed for the new powers.

“It’s the job of police to enforce the law, and when this law passes, we will enforce it. Police as an organisation is well practised in dealing with gang members.”

But the Police Association’s Cahill said regardless of when the gang patch ban was implemented, it would cause problems at a practical level.

“It’s the simple practical ability for officers in many locations to physically arrest gang members who refuse to take their patch off in a public place. It’s simply not going to be viable for a large number of police staff.

“If you’re working in Wairoa and you’ve got two police officers and 20 gang members, it’s very clear you’re not going to be able to enforce that law at that time.”

Labour’s police spokeswoman, Ginny Andersen, said it was clear police would have preferred the laws to be implemented in February, but were pushing ahead with November 21.

Labour police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen says the key concern is how a lack of enforcement will affect public perceptions of police. Photo / Mark Mitchell

She said the key concern is how a lack of enforcement would affect public perceptions of police.

“The concern raised both by police and Police Association has been that if people see these laws now in force, but not enforced, that potentially creates a loss of confidence and trust in police to enforce the law.”

Minister Mitchell denied the implementation of the laws had been rushed, saying the policy has been well signalled before National were even in government.

“None of this stuff has been put through in urgency — we’ve allowed it the time to go through a select committee process, giving police the time to get ready and prepared for it.”

Sophie Trigger is a senior political reporter in Newstalk ZB’s Press Gallery team. She has also previously worked for the New Zealand Herald and Stuff.