May 31, 2025 • 6 mins
Boy racers took over Levin and Palmerston North on Friday night, leaving seven injured and ten arrested.
The meet-up brought together around 1,000 boy racers, becoming so chaotic that police were deployed in full riot gear.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks'
be Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
So you saw the scenes the other night. The boy
racers took over Levin and Parmeston North on Friday night,
leaving seven injured and ten arrested. The meeting brought together
about a thousand boy races. It got so chaotic that
police were deployed in full riot gear. It wasn't long
ago that the government announced some changes to crack down
on boy races. But will it be enough? And Police
(00:31):
Minister Mark Mitchell joins me. Now, Mark, good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Good afternoon telling and thank you mate for getting me
on earlier and accommodating me. I'm actually just on met Graham,
Maxon's junior Appointshire of Rugby Leaue Club. Now, just something
very quickly, just a quick tribute to them played for
the Kiwis was also a police officer for most of
his adult life and did a tremendous amount of work
with youth that were going off the rails. So just
a just a quick little tribute for him.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, well we I really do appreciate you taking the time. Hey,
look absolutely first question, these are these perpetrators of this
the stuff and live in. They're not scared of police,
are they?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, I think they'll be starting to become more fearful
of the police and certainly have more respect after you
see the way the police were so proactive and dealing
with them last on Friday night. They really did do
an outstanding job, you know, complete condemnation for these idiot
boy racers that continue to come out damage roads, damaged property,
intimidate the communities that they're own, not only the mass
(01:32):
of danger to the public and to police, but to
themselves as well. And of course one of my fears
is that is that we're going to end up with
a with a death. And when I looked at the
iz and I went up to Parmesan and live in
myself last night because there was a chance that they
may be backhead again. I looked at some of the
footage and how someone hasn't been killed is beyond me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Who are they? Are they really just boy racers or
are they are those of the spectators who are the
actual perpetrators of this thing this little.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Bit Well, in my view, they're not true char enthusiasts,
because most parenthusiasts and people that belong to auto clubs
are very respectful. They're careful, they stick to the rules.
These people are obnoxious, but like I said, they come out,
they take over public roads. They have complete, in total
disregard for anyone else but themselves. They think they're above
(02:22):
the law. But we are clemping down on them without
a doubt, and both the government and the police have
got zero tolerance for them. We've got some tough new legislation.
I was talking to Chris Bishop about it over the
weekend to say, how can we progress that as quickly
as we can so that the police have got these
additional powers which I think will make a big difference.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Are you do you look at things like that and
think do we need to tweet this legislation and throw
in some slightly more punitive consequences.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, absolutely, without a doubt. So currently the current legislation
means that they have to have three they to be
charged and convicted three times before they lose their vehicle. Well,
we're changing that so that anyone that came out last
night now will lose their vehicle. It's gone. Uh. And
there's a whole lot of other punitive measures too. In additionally,
we're bumping up fines. The police have got their ability
(03:10):
to close public roads. You know, there's much tougher enforcement
legislation coming their way. And we see the clear message
that the country is sick of it. Communities are sick
of it, the police are sick of it. This government's
not going to tolerate it. So we're going to do
something about it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
By their cars, do you mean the cars they've used
on the night or can you also go after other
cars they've got an interest in.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
No, the cars that they've they've used on the night
are the ones that will be targeted. And you know,
and and the other thing too is I just say
to parents, be aware of what your kids are doing,
especially if they're asking to borrow your car and take
your carry it at night. Just and the ones that
turn up the spectators, I've encourage them to stay well
away from it because it's the spectators. Having watched the
video footage and seen the way they run these things,
(03:55):
it's the spectators that are going to be cleaned out
and and someone's going to be killed.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
How can the police get ahead of this stuff and
stop it before it starts? And I don't mean that
as a judgment, it's just a question.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Can they They can, but they're pretty good at gathering intelligence.
They're looking at the social media pages, obviously, And this
one here in Levin was well planned. If you remember
twelve months ago they did the same thing, and you know,
and it was proved very very difficult for police to
get on top of and control. This was the complete
(04:27):
opposite the police. There was a good lots of prior planning,
There was lots of staff there. They had the eagle
come down and they controlled it and they disrupted the
events straight away.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Did I see them firing? Did I see they were
firing sponge rounds as well?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yes, yes, they used sponge rounds to break up the crowd,
which was outstanding. They're like the.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Sort of downgrade version of how would you describe a
sponge round to the uninitiated.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I think it's like just a small sort of projectile
that yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, but it hurts, it hurts,
So yeah they did. The police were outstanding the way
they use their tactics. They use the textical options available
to them, which included the sponge rounds, and I was
really pleased to see them doing it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Lucky last question, because I know you got to go,
and I do appreciate you taking time for us this afternoon.
You say you had a chat with I think Chris
Bishop about getting it getting moving with the legislation. How
quickly can we see a change to this?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, so, look, I'm not going to put a definished
time on it because I've got to have that discussion
with him. But what we want to do is look
at a shortened, sleek committee process. There's ways that we
can do to get this progressed in a matter of
a couple of three months rather than what about it. Well,
that's an option too, but that's that's a conversation that
we've got to have. You're probably if you're going to
(05:46):
use urgency, you'd probably want to seek support from the
opposition parties to be able to do that. But you know,
all options are on the table at the moment.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, Mark, Hey, look, thank you so much for your time.
I'm sorry we've interrupted you in the middle of our
very somber occasion, but hopefully it's a great, great celebration
of his life.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, I think no, thanks to thanks sending me on.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Okay, all the best.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen Live to news
talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks'
be Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
So you saw the scenes the other night. The boy
racers took over Levin and Parmeston North on Friday night,
leaving seven injured and ten arrested. The meeting brought together
about a thousand boy races. It got so chaotic that
police were deployed in full riot gear. It wasn't long
ago that the government announced some changes to crack down
on boy races. But will it be enough? And Police
(00:31):
Minister Mark Mitchell joins me. Now, Mark, good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Good afternoon telling and thank you mate for getting me
on earlier and accommodating me. I'm actually just on met Graham,
Maxon's junior Appointshire of Rugby Leaue Club. Now, just something
very quickly, just a quick tribute to them played for
the Kiwis was also a police officer for most of
his adult life and did a tremendous amount of work
with youth that were going off the rails. So just
a just a quick little tribute for him.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, well we I really do appreciate you taking the time. Hey,
look absolutely first question, these are these perpetrators of this
the stuff and live in. They're not scared of police,
are they?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, I think they'll be starting to become more fearful
of the police and certainly have more respect after you
see the way the police were so proactive and dealing
with them last on Friday night. They really did do
an outstanding job, you know, complete condemnation for these idiot
boy racers that continue to come out damage roads, damaged property,
intimidate the communities that they're own, not only the mass
(01:32):
of danger to the public and to police, but to
themselves as well. And of course one of my fears
is that is that we're going to end up with
a with a death. And when I looked at the
iz and I went up to Parmesan and live in
myself last night because there was a chance that they
may be backhead again. I looked at some of the
footage and how someone hasn't been killed is beyond me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Who are they? Are they really just boy racers or
are they are those of the spectators who are the
actual perpetrators of this thing this little.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Bit Well, in my view, they're not true char enthusiasts,
because most parenthusiasts and people that belong to auto clubs
are very respectful. They're careful, they stick to the rules.
These people are obnoxious, but like I said, they come out,
they take over public roads. They have complete, in total
disregard for anyone else but themselves. They think they're above
(02:22):
the law. But we are clemping down on them without
a doubt, and both the government and the police have
got zero tolerance for them. We've got some tough new legislation.
I was talking to Chris Bishop about it over the
weekend to say, how can we progress that as quickly
as we can so that the police have got these
additional powers which I think will make a big difference.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Are you do you look at things like that and
think do we need to tweet this legislation and throw
in some slightly more punitive consequences.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, absolutely, without a doubt. So currently the current legislation
means that they have to have three they to be
charged and convicted three times before they lose their vehicle. Well,
we're changing that so that anyone that came out last
night now will lose their vehicle. It's gone. Uh. And
there's a whole lot of other punitive measures too. In additionally,
we're bumping up fines. The police have got their ability
(03:10):
to close public roads. You know, there's much tougher enforcement
legislation coming their way. And we see the clear message
that the country is sick of it. Communities are sick
of it, the police are sick of it. This government's
not going to tolerate it. So we're going to do
something about it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
By their cars, do you mean the cars they've used
on the night or can you also go after other
cars they've got an interest in.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
No, the cars that they've they've used on the night
are the ones that will be targeted. And you know,
and and the other thing too is I just say
to parents, be aware of what your kids are doing,
especially if they're asking to borrow your car and take
your carry it at night. Just and the ones that
turn up the spectators, I've encourage them to stay well
away from it because it's the spectators. Having watched the
video footage and seen the way they run these things,
(03:55):
it's the spectators that are going to be cleaned out
and and someone's going to be killed.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
How can the police get ahead of this stuff and
stop it before it starts? And I don't mean that
as a judgment, it's just a question.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Can they They can, but they're pretty good at gathering intelligence.
They're looking at the social media pages, obviously, And this
one here in Levin was well planned. If you remember
twelve months ago they did the same thing, and you know,
and it was proved very very difficult for police to
get on top of and control. This was the complete
(04:27):
opposite the police. There was a good lots of prior planning,
There was lots of staff there. They had the eagle
come down and they controlled it and they disrupted the
events straight away.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Did I see them firing? Did I see they were
firing sponge rounds as well?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yes, yes, they used sponge rounds to break up the crowd,
which was outstanding. They're like the.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Sort of downgrade version of how would you describe a
sponge round to the uninitiated.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I think it's like just a small sort of projectile
that yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, but it hurts, it hurts,
So yeah they did. The police were outstanding the way
they use their tactics. They use the textical options available
to them, which included the sponge rounds, and I was
really pleased to see them doing it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Lucky last question, because I know you got to go,
and I do appreciate you taking time for us this afternoon.
You say you had a chat with I think Chris
Bishop about getting it getting moving with the legislation. How
quickly can we see a change to this?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, so, look, I'm not going to put a definished
time on it because I've got to have that discussion
with him. But what we want to do is look
at a shortened, sleek committee process. There's ways that we
can do to get this progressed in a matter of
a couple of three months rather than what about it. Well,
that's an option too, but that's that's a conversation that
we've got to have. You're probably if you're going to
(05:46):
use urgency, you'd probably want to seek support from the
opposition parties to be able to do that. But you know,
all options are on the table at the moment.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, Mark, Hey, look, thank you so much for your time.
I'm sorry we've interrupted you in the middle of our
very somber occasion, but hopefully it's a great, great celebration
of his life.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, I think no, thanks to thanks sending me on.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Okay, all the best.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen Live to news
talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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