National plans gang crackdown

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National plans to release a raft of new policies aimed at “cracking down hard” on gangs before next year’s election.

This comes as new figures, released by Police Minister Stuart Nash through written Parliamentary questions, show the number of patched gang members in New Zealand has increased 26 per cent since October 2017.

That’s almost 1400 new gang members over two years.

National leader Simon Bridges has pinned the blame on the Government, saying its “soft on crime” approach is damaging communities.

“The Government’s focus has been on reducing prison numbers at any cost but it has no plan to reduce crime,” he said.

“An increase in gang membership means an increase in crime in our communities and more victims.”

The figures, provided to Nash by the police, break down the number of people on the national gang list by regions.

The numbers show a 30 per cent increase (1058 to 1380) in the number of gang members in the Bay of Plenty and a 44 per cent increase (386 to 556) in Waikato over the two years to August this year.

A spokeswoman for Nash said, over that same period, 1200 offenders from Australia had been sent to New Zealand.

She also pointed out 500 of the promised 1800 new police officers by 2020 would be specifically assigned to prevent organised crime.

Bridges yesterday confirmed the party will release a comprehensive gang plan next year, which he said would “crack down hard on gangs”.

Details are scant but the document is likely to contain a raft of potential policies the party will take into the 2020 election. Jason Walls