The Job Tour: Are Rotorua's problems unique?

The two sides of the fence. File photo / Alan Gibson

The stereotype portrays Rotorua youth as being involved in gangs, boy-racing and tagging, as well as excessive use of drugs and alcohol. We set out to find out if there was any truth in that and what the local authorities and community are doing about it.

Talking to people on the streets of the city it is clear that the locals recognise a growing gang problem. One woman told us there has been a huge increase in red clothing swamping the central business district, the colour that is identified with the Mongrel Mob.

The locals we spoke to say this problem is caused by the lack of facilities and things for youth to do and that many gang members have grown up destined to become part of this culture.

One young local woman said that "it doesn't seem like they mind at all, yesterday we were sitting over there and they were tagging up the wall, and I'm pretty sure there were cops nearby".

It appears that locals all seem to think responsibility for the youth lies with the police. But Senior Sergeant Mick Lander told us: "Police aren't there to try and shut down gangs".

When asked why not he said "a criminal gang is a group of people who give themselves a name...we are not addressing the gang but we address the behaviour of those within the gang".

He said there are members of these gangs who are doing good things within the gang although many are involved in criminal activity. He said family violence is more of an issue in Rotorua.

"I'd be more concerned about victims of family violence than what gangs have got going on... We had a homicide here just last week which was a family known to Police".

We thought it was essential that we talk to some patched members and see what their position on this dispute is. The closest we came was a contact who did not want to be named.

He said that it would be difficult to organise an interview with a local gang member due to not only time constraints, but also the effect media involvement has had on gang members recently.

His example was the recent documentary by Pam Corkery. He said some of the gang members interviewed for the programme were now in trouble with police, and his opinion was that "police see gang culture as a minefield, don't know where to start, and have instead focussed on these individuals to hopefully make a point".

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The day before, we met with a local high school student and Rotorua District youth councillor. Liam told us that the problem is based around the need for young people in the area to have a sense of belonging.

He said that a lot of the people in the area may not come from typical families, so they join gangs because it gives them a community they can relate to, people they can talk to as well as a sense of status.

We also went to the Rotorua Youth Centre and met some people who are trying to make a difference in the local community.

The centre's manager, Audrey, told us that the town is starting to take notice of the importance of the centre and the role it plays in both providing a safe warm place to hang out and also in aiding local youth to find employment.

The trust which funds the centre has just been given another half a million dollars to help renovate the centre into a better place for learning.

The redevelopments will include a gym, a lecture theatre, a recording studio, dance studio and a health centre. The centre gets around 700 young people through their doors a month, many of whom the centre assists in finding work for them.

We met a few of the young guys who are doing the work programmes, which Audrey said has mostly been brought on by the Government's community max programme.

This sees the government subsidising youth wages for some companies, as Paula Bennett told us last week.

The boys are working for the Department of Conservation, Environment Bay of Plenty and local forestry companies. Kowhai, a youth worker at the centre, said that while the jobs aren't glamorous and probably aren't considered fun, they are invaluable to the youth.

She said this is because it keeps them busy during the day, gives them an income and also provides them with life skills and experience that will look good on their CVs for their future careers.

She says that a major part in working with youth is all about attitude and that it's all about surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, rather than those who will put you down.

Kowhai told us that she used to be a troublemaker but realised she wanted to help kids like herself, so she went to Auckland University and got a certificate in youth work, before moving to Rotorua to work at the youth centre.

She says part of the reason she succeeded rather than becoming another statistic was because she surrounded herself with people who said she could achieve anything.

Later in the afternoon we met with the mayor Kevin Winters who seemed to take a relatively laid-back approach to the youth issues.

He said that Rotorua is no different to any other New Zealand city, and while there is a gang presence in Rotorua that it's not uncommon for youth to get into gangs anywhere in the country.

He says the council are working with the local gangs to encourage young people to stay in school and get an education before deciding what their future holds.

He says that the local gangs and Kaumatua are telling youth that getting into a gang might not be the best choice for them.

He says that Rotorua has taken a different approach to Wanganui, which also has gang problems. Winters says that Wanganui mayor Michael Laws did the wrong thing by banning gang patches and instead should have worked with the gangs, rather than against them.

So does the Rotorua stereotype stand up? The evidence we've seen suggests there obviously are problems, but whether they are worse than other towns and cities is difficult to gauge. And clearly there are plenty of people here trying to make a difference.