Current gang turf war and political response no different to previous flare-ups - expert
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Loading... - Grayson Bergeron
- 31 May 2022
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While the current escalation of gang violence is obviously concerning, it's just part of the usual cycle of gangland tensions, an expert says.
Rising tension between the Tribesmen and the Killer Beez gangs had been linked to a number of shootings in Auckland last week, with seven across the city on one night.
Seven people had been arrested so far, with guns and ammunition also seized by police officers.
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University of Canterbury senior lecturer Jarrod Gilbert said police would ultimately be successful in cracking down on them, and thanks to gun law changes gangs would have fewer weapons next time things escalated.
Aotearoa had a long history of gang tensions and gang violence with confrontations spilling into the country's streets and consciousness.
The current turf war between the Killer Beez and the Tribesman was no different - and history was against the gangs, Gilbert said.
"There's been a lot of gang conflicts in New Zealand over the years - huge numbers, the police have won every single one of them. So they will assist in gaining control. The groups themselves will decide it's not worth it and pull their heads in, and not before time."
Such flare ups were always accompanied by tough on crime talk by politicians.
"It doesn't matter if National is in opposition or Labour is in opposition - they will all howl with 'The government is soft on crime' and the government responds by saying 'No we're not'."
Recent cycles of violence were no different with former National Party leaders, Simon Bridges and Judith Collins, both rolling out the soft on crime line, as had current leader Christopher Luxon.
The government had been "very soft on crime", and gangs were acting with impunity as a result, Luxon said.
"All I can tell you is in this country we've got a 21 percent increase in violent crime, we've had a 40 percent growth in gangs. There's nothing I like about gangs. They peddle misery and hurt and pain and suffering for everyone," he told reporters today.
In turn, Minister of Police Poto Williams said police were not acting fast enough.
"Look, I've sought assurances from police. I want them to work faster - our communities are still feeling really unsafe."
But Gilbert said police were independent from government interference, and rightly so.
Despite political rhetoric, officers were policing gangs as firmly as they ever have, he said.
"They have also taken the lens and drawn it back a bit and gone 'Well how do we get ahead of this', which again in the medium to longer term will be very important. I can see no evidence, none, zero, that police are not policing the gangs by any stretch of the imagination."
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster today told RNZ police were cracking down on gangs and harassing them for any wrongdoing.
"We find everything we can and that's to send a message that this way of behaving is completely unacceptable. And eventually that combined with the stress they feel from being at war does tend to calm things down and that's what we will keep doing. Clearly it's incredibly unnerving for those communities affected and I really feel for them in that situation."
Gilbert backed that approach.
Questions had been asked about where the gangs were getting their guns, especially following the 2019 reforms in the wake of the Christchurch terror attacks.
Gilbert said those changes would act as a sinking lid, making it harder for the gangs to source guns in the future.
So would the gun registry, which was due to become operational next year.
"Nothing on its own is going to solve this problem. The best we can do is target it from numerous directions and reduce the amount of firearms getting into the wrong hands." Read More...
