Politics Live Blog - April 22-28
Former Whanganui mayor says gang patch ban worked
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
Michael Laws, the former mayor of Whanganui who pushed for a localised gang patch ban, says it led to a decrease in gang membership in his region.
“Whanganui is where your evidence is to answer all the questions that have been posed," he said.
"There was a 15% reduction in gang membership and gang association as a result of the bylaw, there were less gang-on-gang encounters."
Laws said the reduction was due to people leaving gangs, and also leaving Whanganui.
The Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill was a controversial measure. In 2011, the High Court ruled that the council’s bylaw to ban gang patches in public areas was unlawful, invalid and inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act.
Former National Party minister and Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, who helped the bill become law, said it had been ineffectual in practice.
“Whanganui is where your evidence is to answer all the questions that have been posed," he said.
"There was a 15% reduction in gang membership and gang association as a result of the bylaw, there were less gang-on-gang encounters."
Laws said the reduction was due to people leaving gangs, and also leaving Whanganui.
The Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill was a controversial measure. In 2011, the High Court ruled that the council’s bylaw to ban gang patches in public areas was unlawful, invalid and inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act.
Former National Party minister and Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, who helped the bill become law, said it had been ineffectual in practice.
Borrows, who is now deceased, told Stuff the National Party's campaign promise to ban gang patches at the last election was a hollow election tactic.
“Police will either spend a lot of time trying to enforce this, and it may not be all that helpful, or the police will ignore it and the public will be upset it isn't being enforced," he said at the time.
Laws' shared a different perspective of the Whanganui gang patch ban during his select committee appearance on Tuesday.
“Anything that allows police to harass gangs and stop them going about the illegal intimidatory ways is a good thing," he said.