Boyz in our 'hoods

The youth gang craze sweeping the country is making itself felt in Rotorua. Daily Post reporter KELLY BLANCHARD finds out why youngsters are involved and checks out the community's attitude.

Ask Isaac Martin if he wants to be a patched Black Power member and his eyes light up.

"Hopefully one day," he says.

His thirst for a gang lifestyle comes from his affiliation with Rotorua youth gang Westside.

He wears his blue bandanna around his forehead and another around his neck with pride.

Blue is his chosen colour elsewhere as well. One of his favourite items of clothing is a blue denim jacket with the letter N on it in a yellow circle - the N stands for "north wing" and the jacket is standard issue for Waikeria Prison inmates. His brother gave it to him.

At first glance, you might think the 17-year-old deserves a good kick in the pants.

Getting into trouble with the law, mainly for burglary and theft, is nothing new to Isaac. He freely admits the offending.

"That's just my own thing," he offers in his defence.

Get him talking about his Westside "thugs", as they call themselves, and Isaac spits his words out using all the gang slang he can muster.

"I like to represent with my colours - if there are heaps of people after you, like the Mob for example, I know that my brothers have got my back."

But when you're having a normal conversation, there's a glimpse of a different young man.

When he laughs, his face lights up and you see that he doesn't look so scary after all.

He says he's chosen to be a Westside member in defiance against his family. Although he won't go into specifics, he says his family are all Eastside and come from Mongrel Mob territory.

"I don't get along with all my family so I decided to turn into a different colour."

Isaac is part Maori and part Pacific Islander. He was born in Porirua but was raised in Murupara. At the age of 13, he was expelled from Rangitahi College.

"I got into trouble after school and I was wearing my school uniform at the time so, yeah, they expelled me."

He spent a bit of time near Tokoroa before moving to Rotorua where he now lives with his mate in Western Heights.

Research shows that by the time Isaac is 18, his aim to be in the Black Power will probably come true.

The culture of American style street gangs is sweeping New Zealand - taking many young teenagers down a road that leads to a life of crime and violence.

The problem is at its worst in South Auckland but most regions throughout the country now have young street gangs similar to the Eastside and Westside factions in Rotorua.

Not all young people think it's cool, however. The Daily Post found plenty of good teenagers just wanting to be "normal" young people, no matter what side of the city they come from.

Jessica Hastie goes to Rotorua Lakes High School. She and a big group of her friends hang out together in the City Focus but there's no gang mentality here.

Ask them about the Eastside/Westside gangs and they'll tell you straight out that they consider them to be "pathetic".

Jessica says there are regular fights in the school playground as a result of disagreements over Eastside and Westside gangs.

She and her friends say underage rage parties at nightclubs in Rotorua also tend to attract the wrong element, creating huge Eastside versus Westside tension.

Jessica says it's mainly junior students who are into the youth gang scene at her school.

"All the seniors think it's pathetic."

She reckons everyone should "get over it".

"They should have tribal gangs instead or something - be proud of their own culture, their own families. They only hate each other because they live on different sides of town. It's so stupid."

Not all Eastside and Westside gang members find it hard getting along.

Eastside Training general manager Rick Wiringi says kids from both sides of the city are sent to him as part of Rotorua Youth Court sentences. Once in his company, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and wearing their colours is not an option.

A forestry training course that's helping many young men change their lives, Eastside Training was set up by Rick in 1996. It provides a forestry and life skills programme for Rotorua youth.

Many of the young kids caught up in Eastside and Westside gangs find themselves in trouble with the law and facing charges in the Rotorua Youth Court.

Rick says he works with kids aged between 15 and 17 and has never witnessed any trouble between opposing members of the youth gangs.

"They still get in the van together and work alongside each other."

He blames the advent of youth gangs on the influence of American television.

"We work towards getting them away from that type of thing," he says.

Senior Sergeant Greg Sparrow of the Rotorua police says offending by the youth gangs is spasmodic.

"Some of them are the real thing, some of them are hangers-on. We're not too worried about them wearing colours or bandannas. If they want to wear colours, it is not unlawful. It is those involved in crime that will arouse our interest and create police attention."

Most parents, even those from whom you'd least expect it, are against their children getting mixed up with the youth gangs.

A patched Rotorua Black Power member we spoke to is battling his son's fascination with belonging to the Westside.

The gang member and his partner, who don't want to be identified, have a 12-year-old son who is a Westside member. They're trying to get him to stop being part of Westside.

"We tell him 'this is how you dress when you live in this house' but when he comes back from being out, he is all scarfed up," his mum says.

They're frustrated with the hatred between the two youth gangs, especially they say, considering the Black Power and Mongrel Mob gangs have lived in relative harmony in Rotorua in recent years.

"We have had a few issues with the Mongrel Mob kids hassling our kids but we just go down there to their place and talk about it," the patched member says.

While they're struggling to get through to their son, someone who is winning the war against youth gangs is the Rotorua District Council's graffiti team.

Keep Rotorua Beautiful co-ordinator Christine Findon says graffiti in Rotorua has been under control for the past two years, thanks to a policy of getting rid of taggings within 24 hours.

"With this Eastside/Westside thing, one tags and the other tags over the top and it winds up causing a lot of damage.

"It costs a lot of money and that's money we can't spend on things like the Aquatic Centre, skate parks, playgrounds, reserves and the library."

In the past two years, the drop in graffiti has seen the Keep Rotorua Beautiful graffiti team of two full-time staff halved.

But despite the growing public animosity towards youth gangs, there are plenty of Rotorua youngsters like Isaac who think being a Westside or Eastside member is acceptable - even normal.

Whatever others may say, Isaac is happy hanging out on Rotorua's streets, wearing his blue scarves, doing his Westside hand signals and yelling his gang slang to anyone who will listen.

"I feel happy representing my colour," he says.

"It feels comfortable on me now."