New Zealand passes tougher laws to crack down on gangs

WELLINGTON — New Zealand has passed tougher laws banning gang insignia in all public places. Courts can now issue injunctions banning gatherings, and police can ban criminal gangs from working together and communicating.

The legislation passed by parliament on Thursday and which comes into effect from November 21 will give police and the courts extra tools to tackle gangs that are “spreading misery and intimidation across New Zealand”, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said.

Gang membership will also be given more weight in sentencing, allowing courts to impose harsher sentences, Goldsmith said, adding that gang membership has increased 51 percent over the past five years while violent crime has increased 33 percent. Xinhua News the agency reported.

“Repeat offenders who are repeatedly convicted of displaying their badges in public will be subject to a new court order, banning them from possessing gang badges, either in public or in private, for five years,” the minister said, adding that gang badges displayed from a private vehicle would also fall under the badge ban.

As for disruptive gang events, police have the authority to break up public gang gatherings and impose a ban on those involved for the week following the event, he said.

According to Goldsmith, the most serious gang criminals will be banned from associating and communicating with each other for three years, otherwise there is a risk that they will plan or commit further gang crime.

Gang members make up less than a quarter of one percent of New Zealand’s adult population, but are responsible for 18 percent of all serious violent crime, 19 percent of all murders, 23 percent of all firearms offences, 25 percent of all kidnappings and abductions and 25 percent of all drug-related harm, according to ministry statistics.