New Zealand gangs on the rise: why young Kiwis are patched

Gang affiliation is increasing. Stuff talks to experts, leaders and gang members about why young people are joining gangs in New Zealand and how to deal with the violent consequences. Georgia-May Gilbertson Reports.

Even a nationwide shutdown did nothing to curb the rise of gangs in New Zealand last year.

At least 900 people joined a gang in 2020, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to police figures. In Hawke’s Bay alone, the birthplace of the Mongrel Mob, police recorded a 58 percent increase in registered gang membership last year.

Experts and gang members have said Stuff the influx has been primarily younger men, and their arrival has heralded a more aggressive gang culture.

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In Hawke’s Bay, tensions between the gangs have flared as membership grows. In December, there were two separate shootings from a car in a few days, and a victim was found bleeding from a gunshot wound at a local medical center.

In response, the police raided properties throughout the region, arrested seven people and seized drugs and firearms.

The region faced a street war in Taradale last year, shots were fired at a Napier medical center and Wairoa police station, as well as a policeman’s home, all crimes related to an increase in the gang activity.

Harry Tam, a member of the Mongrel Mob, said that the evolution of gangs has been determined by broader socioeconomic pressures, in particular the growth of casual work, lower wages and longer hours that make the job less attractive to young people.

“There is little incentive for people to adopt unskilled labor and their opportunities to access higher education or training are limited because they are unlikely to get financial support from their great impoverished whānau, so their ‘legitimate channels for the success’ are limited. ” he said in an interview.

The recent recruitment of younger members generally involved those who had been placed in state care, he added.

“If we talk about more recent times, urban drift certainly had a great impact in terms of families and income and the last 30 years have seen the globalization of gangs,” he said. “What I saw in New Zealand is that the gangs went from a more passive recruitment to a more active recruitment.”

Tam described the younger gang members as those who were “disconnected from modern society” and grew up where gang life and existence became normal.

“Their parents and grandparents have never worked, they have benefited from the benefit because they are unskilled or poorly qualified. The economy doesn’t make it worth your time, ”he said.

The growing number of people in pretrial detention, projected to exceed those serving time by 2029, created overcrowding, which in turn fueled prison violence, Tam said.

“Prisons are fertile ground for gang recruitment, and the increase in violence in prisons is a factor in people joining gangs as a means of protection.”

Like Tam, Black Power Life Member Denis O’Reilly said more government funding was needed to reduce tensions between rival gangs, as well as to help members find jobs.

“A few years ago, we brought together 30 parents and children from Black Power and 30 parents and children from Mongrel Mob for three days. Hence we reached an agreement on how we would behave. ”

But O’Reilly said events like these required dedicated effort and resources. “The government must decide to invest in these events or in jail. Somehow we have to get back to a more optimal balance and I don’t think we’re doing that right now. “

Every Friday during the Covid-19 shutdown, O’Reilly said Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha would convene a teleconference of gang leaders.

“We found out during that, if there were problems, we could intervene, the communities that needed food were fed, we could intervene in domestic violence and all kinds of things,” he said.

But not all relationships with police were positive, and O’Reilly said people were still arrested simply for wearing gang colors or for “looking like they were in a gang.”

Hawke’s Bay Detective Sergeant Major David De Lange said gangs have always attracted the very young.

“Police have a strong focus on prevention through partnerships, and much of what we do is aimed at achieving better results for the people of our community. This includes disrupting the gangs, lessening their influence and stopping the damage, ”De Lange said.

Jarrod Gilbert, a gang expert at the University of Canterbury, said there were a number of reasons youth joined gangs, but the main factors were that they wanted a sense of family or “brotherhood.”

“Either their biological family is gang-related or they have been so dysfunctional that they have to find what most people are lucky enough to enjoy at home, but they have to go out and look for it,” Gilbert said. “They have been kicked from pillar to post, they have been neglected and mistreated.”

Another reason for joining was a “sense of status,” he said.

“It gives you a feeling of mana. When you put that patch on you can puff up your chest, your shoulders roll back and you turn into something. “

Tam agreed, saying that for some young people the commercialization of gangster rap had embellished the life of gangs.

“These young men are often raised without the presence of their parents or other positive male role models. So his vision of gangs is predominantly shaped by the media, marketing and the exaggerated glory of his peers, “he said.

Also, Gilbert said, leaving gangs could be difficult, especially given the physical marks they left, such as facial tattoos. Although getting a tattoo was not mandatory, there was “pressure” for young people to get one, he said.

“Young people, regardless of their backgrounds, don’t tend to think too much ahead either, and they can often make really unfortunate decisions,” Gilbert said. “It not only marks you for today’s gangs, it clearly marks you for the rest of your days; it acts as a powerful link to keep them in the gang. “

‘Anyone can get a patch’

A younger gang member, Pacer Mccauley, said the public misunderstands gangs and what that means.

Waikato member Mongrel Mob, who was patched two years ago, described his upbringing as “privileged,” but felt he had found a family within the gang and received his patch two and a half years ago.

“I felt marginalized from my family. They felt like a different gang to me and I didn’t feel welcome in my family. “

Mccauley said he had no friends of relatives who were associated with gangs and they got involved while doing security work. “I was able to connect with one of my good friends who didn’t even realize he was part of the mafia, and he pointed me in the direction.”

The main reason he joined the Mongrel Mob was to show that the members were “not bad people,” he said, denying that prospective gangs had to prove themselves by committing violence.

“Certain individuals are bad, but if you ran into me on the street you wouldn’t even think I was a mobster. I’ve played golf my whole life. “