Anger in Auckland as groups square off for siren battles

West Auckland residents are losing sleep over car siren battles blasting music in the night. Photo / 123RF

By Morning Report of RNZ

Cars decked out in sirens are parking up in parts of West Auckland and blasting out short clips of songs in the early hours, a councillor says.

Waitākere ward councillor Shane Henderson wants tougher powers for the police and is contacting the Transport Minister to see if new legislation will include penalties.

A Local Democracy reporter who met some of the adherents for a story wrote that participants were mainly young Pasifika people who have become fans of a style of music known as siren jams or beats.

The genre consists primarily of remixes of high-pitched reggae music played over horn speakers or public address systems, which adherents call “sirens”, and are then attached to cars. These groups also compete with each other at all hours of the night.

According to Henderson, the siren-laden car battles are creating a major public nuisance in West Auckland, particularly in Te Atatū.

He said they created huge issues for people, especially when they wanted to sleep.

He told Morning Report the police lacked the right tools “to make a dent” in the problem, although he was encouraged by an announcement this week from the Government of plans for a crackdown on boy racers.

Those using the sirens should be covered by the new bill, Henderson said.

He said groups of people park in residential areas and then blast out short clips of songs in the early hours.

“Who can do it the loudest, I think, is the game. You should see these cars – sirens all over them, it’s quite a sight.”

They were breaking the law regarding excessive noise from a vehicle, but the law needed beefing up.

Henderson was puzzled the battles had started up again at this time of year because it was usually a summer occurrence.

He said he would be writing to Minister for Transport Chris Bishop to ensure higher fines and that police had the power to confiscate the sirens were part of the legislation.

“It creates huge nuisance for thousands of people in West Auckland, especially for parents and the elderly and vulnerable people.

“It’s kind of funny if you’re not affected by it, but if you are, you realise it’s quite harmful for people.”

– RNZ