The Police Minister says laws giving police officers more power to disrupt gang activity will have a “big impact” on reducing crime in New Zealand.
It comes after the man wanted over a fatal shooting on Auckland’s Ponsonby Rd on Sunday night was confirmed to have been a member of the Killer Beez gang.
The victim has been named as Robert Sidney Horne.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the “awful situation” on Ponsonby Rd highlighted New Zealand’s widespread gang problem.
“It was just a tragic situation all around. It highlighted the fact that we’ve got a big problem in our country, there is a big increase in gang numbers. These gangs are willing to carry firearms and use them.”
He said the Government has rolled out “a very big public safety agenda” in the House, but that it has a “hard job ahead of us” to turn around law and order.
“We’ve got a commitment to additional 500 frontline police officers in the last six months, there’s been a 50% increase of police officers actually out on the beat around the country being highly visible.”
“We’re not going to be able to turn it around overnight, but we are working very, very hard and making positive steps in the right direction.”
Mitchell said police are going to be given “substantial powers” to disrupt gang activity in New Zealand under new laws.
“These new laws being that the police are gonna have substantial powers to disrupt them, search them [and] start seizing weapons. I think that it will have a big impact on our gang scene in New Zealand. We know that we have to start to reduce gang numbers. We know that we have to get on top of gangs.
“All of those laws are designed to give the police additional powers to crack down and disrupt gangs and put pressure on gangs and they’ve been very effective.”
He said gangs have been operating in a “very permissive environment” the last six years.
“The police have actually had a very strong response in terms of dealing with these gang convoys and over the last six months, they’ve done a very good job of that. They’re now prioritising and protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens, over and above those of gangs and they’re putting extra resources in.”
He said on a whole, there needs to be more police officers visible across the country.
“I’ve asked for police officers to be more visible. To go back to having police officers on the beat, developing relationships with shopkeepers and retailers, gathering intelligence [and to] know what’s happening in their own patch.”