New Zealanders Are Banned From Displaying Gang Symbols As A New Law Takes Effect

WELLINGTON: A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making ir first arrest for a breach of law three minutes later.

man was driving with gang insignia displayed on dashboard of his car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told 1News.

prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside private homes, including on clothing or in vehicles, is among a suite of new measures intended to bolster police powers to disrupt groups. Wearing or displaying insignia of 35 listed gangs will now prompt a fine of up to 5,000 New Zealand dollars ($2,940) or up to six months in jail.

New Zealand’s center-right government, which pledged ahe of last October’s election to tackle gang crime, says measures will reduce membership of groups responsible for violence and drug offenses. But detractors say law breaches civil liberties and could drive gang activities underground.

“Gangs aren’t community groups. y’re not a Rotary club,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on social media Thursday. “y thrive on destroying lives of or New Zealanders, wher that’s by peddling drugs or through brutal acts of violence that leave communities in fear.”

Under new law, officers can also disperse public garings of three or more members, bar some gang affiliates from associating with each or, and enter homes of those who keep breaking law to search for banned items. Gang membership will now be considered by courts when sentencing offenders.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters Thursday that two people were arrested hours after law took effect for wearing gang “patches,” which are large insignia often worn by gang members on backs of lear jackets or vests. government says patches are intimidating because members are required to earn m through violent acts.

measures shift New Zealand’s response to gangs closer to that of neighboring Australia, which also uses a law to suppress public visibility of gangs, and away from jurisdictions like U.S. and Britain, which use criminal law to respond to specific activities carried out by organized crime groups, according to a report published by Treasury officials in February.

Facial tattoos that display gang insignia are exempt from ban, as is wearing of gang colors. government was criticized by some for not including white supremacist groups in its list of 35 organizations targeted by new law. That means displaying swastikas and making Nazi salutes remains legal in New Zealand -– unlike in Australia, which banned both in a law that took effect January.

re are nearly 9,400 people on a New Zealand police list of known gang members. New Zealand’s population is 5 million.

Successive governments have vowed to tackle criminal gangs, which often are linked to poverty and or deprivation. previous center-left government was decried by Luxon’s ministration for working with gangs on social initiatives, including COVID-19 vaccination efforts, while current government has been denounced for vancing policies that are likely to ensnare some of New Zealand’s most marginalized groups, including Indigenous Māori.

Official reports say three-quarters of those on national gang list are Māori, who make up less than 20% of New Zealanders, and that 80% to 90% of those in two of most notorious gangs are former wards of state.

Luxon me a formal apology this month for widespre abuse of children and vulnerable ults in state care over past seven deces.

(This story is not edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)