The government caps a crime-focussed week, but a coalition tussle could be about to surface, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin.
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Gangs bill passes with last minute additions
The government’s gang bill has passed, including the two new additions giving police extra search powers to clamp down on the display of patches even in the home, as the PM pledges to “harass” gang members. The ban on gang patches will kick in from November 21, reported 1News’ Felix Desmarais, as will new powers to allow police to stop criminal gangs from associating and communicating. In line with the coalition agreement, greater weight will also be given to gang membership at sentencing, said the justice minister Paul Goldsmith.
The ability for police to search a person’s home for gang insignia if they had breached the public ban three times was a controversial last minute amendment to the government’s bill. A second amendment extended the ban to private vehicles. As discussed on the latest episode of Tova O’Brien’s Stuff podcast, the human rights impact of these changes wasn’t assessed and concerns have been raised about possible Bill of Rights implications. Ministers have defended it, despite concern it didn’t face public scrutiny, but the police minister Mark Mitchell admitted the rushed process wasn’t ideal, reported the Herald’s Adam Pearse.
Police bolster numbers… or do they?
The passing of the gang legislation capped what has been a heavily crime focussed week for the government. We’ve talked about the subject basically every day this week – from the PM’s police ride along over the weekend through to controversy over crime figures (another reminder to read Alice Neville’s feature on The Spinoff).
Yesterday saw another crime-related announcement, reported Stuff’s Glenn McConnell, with confirmation of where the 500 additional police officers promised by the government would be allocated. About 160 will join community patrols, while 77 will be deployed directly to the new gang disruption units established by the government. The problem, noted McConnell, is that due to attrition, there are now 43 fewer officers in the force than when the coalition came into power in November. And, of the “new” 500 officers, 167 will be filling vacancies that have been empty since last year.
‘Frickin targets’
Meanwhile, the prime minister was visibly frustrated by a line of questioning from a reporter while making the announcement about new police officers. The prime minister, along with police minister Mark Mitchell, was asked about police removing gang members from the national gang list. It was said to be to ensure that the list is accurate by, for example, removing deceased gang members. Luxon was asked whether this was politically “convenient” given it may show the official number of gang members dropping. “Guys, guys, no disrespect,” Luxon said. “It’s not about the frickin targets, it’s about outcomes.”
Given the outcomes – such as reducing violent crime – are based on the “frickin targets”, it’s a slightly unusual remark for the prime minister to make, along with the fact this government has prided itself on announcing targets across a number of areas (in the Herald this morning, an update on the government target to reduce jobseeker benefit numbers, for example).
Debate brewing over gun registry
The passing of the gangs legislation doesn’t signal the end of the government’s crime focus. And as Jenna Lynch reported for ThreeNews, a new tussle between cabinet members could be brewing over the future of the gun registry. Act campaigned on ditching the registry, but National and the police back it. “The register will stay, no doubt about that,” said Mark Mitchell this week. That’s a pretty definitive response, but firearms reform minister Nicole McKee, who is in charge of the registry, wants to stick with the coalition pledge of a review. “No minister can make that decision by themselves… and we are part of a coalition,” she said.