The feasibility of enforcing the government’s new gang laws amid police staffing shortages has been questioned by the Police Association president, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
A gold-plated photo opportunity
On Friday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and police minister Mark Mitchell posed in front of machinery and watched on as six gold-plated Harley-Davidson motorbikes seized from the Comanchero motorcycle gang were crushed and turned into scrap metal. The bikes were seized in 2019, and legislation passed by the previous government last year enabled them to seek a court order to have them destroyed. The news release, photos and video about the destruction went out at 9am yesterday and was shortly followed by the government’s announcement about the introduction of legislation to ban gang insignia in public places and gatherings in groups.
New laws come with $5000 fine or six months in prison
The proposed legislation will be introduced to parliament in the next few days. Under the legislation, wearing a gang patch in public would come with a fine of up to $5000 or up to six months in prison. The ban extends to funerals and tangi. Mitchell said New Zealanders deserve to feel safe in their homes, communities and public places. “For too long gangs have been allowed to behave as if they are above the law. There is no tolerance for this behaviour and these new laws will support Police to take action against it,” he said.
‘Very few’ police districts outside main centres would have enough staff to enforce new laws – Police Association president
Mitchell cited a well-publicised and often-used example from last year, where schools and roads were closed in the Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki for the tangi for Mongrel Mob Barbians leader Steven Taiatini. Sunday reporter Kristin Hall went to Ōpōtiki for a story that aired last night and spoke to Senior Constable Pete King, who’s been off work since being diagnosed with major depression in 2021. King is deeply concerned about police staffing levels in the town. As Hall notes, it is rare for cops to break rank and speak candidly to media. “Our staff here are just overwhelmed with work, they just cannot do it all, it’s as simple as that. We have to prioritise our work to the point where a lot of crime is just getting left, it’s just tossed aside, pretty much… We just haven’t got the staff to deal with it… to the point we’re making our staff sick.” King is backed Police Association president Chris Cahill who told Hall that “outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, there’d be ‘very few’ police districts that would have enough staff to enforce the new rules on a group of gang members in patches.”
Frontline police already stretched
The opposition has also raised doubts about enforcing the laws. Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said frontline police were already stretched, and turning them into the “wardrobe police” would not help matters. Mitchell said frontline officers would have more time for “core policing” through a proposed plan to have police step back from responding to family harm and mental health callouts. Mitchell had to formally correct the record in parliament last month after saying the government would deliver 500 additional officers over three years. The National/ NZ First coalition agreement states the delivery timeframe to be two years. It was framed as a misspeak and a mistake by Mitchell, but Jarrod Gilbert says (paywalled) Mitchell was absolutely right in extending the timeframe. He notes that police have been on an extended recruitment drive for several years, and the “well of potential recruits is simply running dry”. “The fact that politics has trumped practicalities here has dangerous implications,” he wrote.