Nats say police need more tools against gangs

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

National Party East Coast candidate Dana Kirkpatrick says gang numbers in the Eastern and Bay of Plenty police regions have almost doubled since 2017.

The two police areas, which both cross into the East Coast electorate, have recorded a near 100 percent increase, she said.

The newly released statistics “just proved what everyone living in these communities already knew”.

“The gangs are out of control and Labour has done nothing to control the continuing growth in gangs.

These two regions — our communities — are numbers one and two in the country for gang numbers, which is outrageous.

“This is an area that we must focus on. People in our communities deserve to feel safe and we need to step up and look for more ways we can reduce crime.

“I will do this when I earn the right to be East Coast’s next MP,” said Ms Kirkpatrick.

The figures show Bay of Plenty leads the country in the number of gang members, with an increase from 875 in February 2017 to 1525 in February 2023 — the highest number for any region.

The Eastern region has seen an increase in gang numbers from 726 in 2017 to 1355 — second in numbers to Bay of Plenty.

“Across the country, gang numbers have increased by 61 percent since Labour came to power in 2017. The number of gang members has grown from 5343 to 8607.”

National’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell said Labour was not cracking down on gangs but continued to shift the blame and do nothing.

“The only action Labour has taken in law and order has been to reduce the prison population by over 20 percent and to repeal the Three Strikes legislation.

“As a result, criminals feel emboldened to go out and commit crime because they know they will not be held accountable for their actions under this Government.

“That is why, under Labour, we have seen a 33 percent increase in violent crime, a 140 percent increase in serious assaults resulting in injury, and in 2022 there was a ram raid every 10 hours.

“Unlike Labour, National is backing our front-line police officers and would give them four new tools to make their jobs easier.”

Mr Mitchell said National would —

■ Ban gang patches, “which have been the recent fuel for the worst gun violence seen in New Zealand”.

■ Give police non-association powers to prevent gang members from communicating and planning criminal activity.

■ Allow police to issue dispersal notices where gang members come together in public to intimidate, threaten, and sometimes assault members of the public.

■ Give police the warrantless search powers they need “to take the guns out of the hands of violent armed gang members”.