National takes aim at gangs
The National Party wants to ban gang patches and insignia in public places and create an Australian-style ‘‘Strike Force Raptor’’ police unit to crack down on gangs.
The actions are among a raft of proposals in the Opposition’s law and order discussion document, which signals what the ‘‘party of law and order’’ would look at implementing if it got back into power after the 2020 election.
This was only the beginning of National’s war on gangs, as it still planned to release a more comprehensive ‘‘gang plan’’ next year.
Other proposals to crack down on gangs included revoking parole for those who associated with gangs and creating a new sentence for violent gang crime.
The proposals are not yet firm policy and could be jettisoned before the next election.
National Party leader Simon Bridges said gang numbers were increasing at almost twice the rate of new police recruits and the new police unit would harass and interfere with gang activity.
It would be modelled on the New South Wales ‘‘Strike Force Raptor’’ unit that was set up to target gang activity of outlaw motorcycle gangs and associates.
National’s police spokesperson Brett Hudson said the unit could check benefit payments and tax records for gang members.
‘‘If someone was punched outside a nightclub by a gang member, the unit would take over the case. If gang members didn’t pay their traffic fines, it would follow up to ensure their driver licences were taken away.’’
The specialist officers would check gang clubhouses and use
council rules to shut them down for shoddy workmanship or unconsented work.
National’s justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said banning gang patches was a way to take back control from the gangs.
‘‘Gangs peddle misery in our communities, manufacturing and dealing drugs and carrying out violence. As a former police officer, I’ve seen first-hand the harm they cause, and National won’t stand for it.’’
Organised crime
The Government was currently already working on measures to crack down on gang activity, including providing additional police to specifically work on organised crime.
Police Minister Stuart Nash was also considering new police powers, through a review of the Crimes Act and proceeds of crime laws, that will go after gang hierarchy.
Nash had also proposed Firearm Prohibition Orders (FPOs) that aim to keep guns out of the hands of gangs.
When National announced it was going after gangs cheating on benefits, Nash said National had no new ideas around gangs and Bridges seemed to have only just realised that gangs have a presence in New Zealand.
Prison reform
National’s corrections spokesman David Bennett said the party was proposing tougher measures for prisoners to get parole, so the privilege was not abused.
This included denying parole to convicted murderers if they refused to reveal the location of a body – a similar law was currently being considered in the United Kingdom and was a new policy in Queensland, Australia.
Prisoners should not rely on early release unless they had done the hard yards to deserve it, Bennett said.
Offenders who did not have NCEA Level 2 literacy and numeracy requirements would also not be eligible for early release, he said.
‘‘The current Government wants to lower the prison population but has no plan to reduce crime. We will ensure criminals are punished for committing crimes, but also that prisoners are rehabilitated so they go on to lead productive lives.’’
Law and order
National MPs were was also reviewing whether a person should do additional time if they carried out multiple crimes and proposed to widen the clean slate programme for young offenders, increase penalties for the most serious young offenders and give police more powers to detain them. The party also proposed removing bail in favour of monitored release, removing warnings and increasing sentences.
It also wanted to reintroduce and update the Meth Action Plan, increase penalties for those caught supplying synthetics and reintroduce a pilot programme of mental health nurses in police watch houses.
National would bring back targets for police on reducing violent crime victimisations, reducing reoffending and reducing family violence victimisations.
‘‘Gangs peddle misery in our communities, manufacturing and dealing drugs and carrying out violence. As a former police officer, I’ve seen first-hand the harm they cause, and National won’t stand for it.’’
Mark Mitchell
National’s justice spokesman
Speeding up courts
There were also plans to streamline the courts system and add performance measures for District and High Courts within the discussion document.
National believed Justices of the Peace could be used more for minor offences and traffic cases to free up judges’ time. It wanted to extend court hours, using them at night and on weekends.
It also wanted to make the Victims Notification Register an opt-out system and ensure sexual violence cases were dealt with within 12 months.
Bridges said as a former Crown Prosecutor, who worked on more than 100 jury trials, law and order was personal for him. The proposals would put victims at the heart of the justice system, he said. ‘‘National believes victims should get justice, criminals should be held accountable for the harm they cause and offenders should be rehabilitated so they can become contributing members of our society.’’