Kerre Woodham: If you want to live outside the law, expect your life to be difficult

Police have announced Operation Nickel, a nationwide operation focused on the enforcement of the Gangs Act 2024. What is the Gangs Act 2024? It's the specific piece of legislation that enforces the prohibition of the display of gang Insignia in public places. It provides for the issue of dispersal notices to stop gang members from gathering in public places, and it also makes provisions for non-consorting orders to prevent specified gang offenders from associating or communicating with each other for three years.  

Basically, it's to make life uncomfortable for the gangs who've had a pretty free ride of it over recent times. Paul Basham, National Controller for the operation, says the display of gang insignia in public places will not be tolerated. When the new laws come into effect, he says, the police will actively enforce any breaches. As part of the operation before the legislation came into effect, police engaged with gangs and community representatives about the requirements of the Gangs Act and what the police intended to do with the legislation. He said gangs are well aware that once this law comes into effect, they are not allowed to wear a gang patch in public. If they're sitting at home watching The Chase, fine. Pop your gang patch on and be the business.  

Police staff have spoken to gang leaders and made it clear that anyone breaching the new laws can expect enforcement action, he said, and if we come across anyone wearing gang insignia in public, we will not be taking the excuse of ignorance as a defence.  

He spoke to the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning and said he is confident the Gang Disruption Units are set up and ready to go.  

“You know, it's inevitable that we will be responding to reports of gangs breaking the law but you know, in addition to that, those units will be proactive, gathering intelligence, looking to work with other police units, and taking opportunities to sort of fulfil their mandate, which is in line with the purpose of the Act, which is to reduce the ability of gangs to operate and to cause fear and intimidation and disruption by the public.  

“So those units are really clear in terms of what the purpose is, and from the 21st of November they'll be into it, and I think too, you'll see them, you know, sharpening their tradecraft and their skills relative to the provisions of this legislation. And so we just see it as an awesome tool to allow us to continue the work that we do pretty much up and down the country every day anyway, in the way that we police the gangs.” 

So there were about 400 meetings up and down the country. As the police said, this is what we intend to do, this is what the legislation is. So fair dues. It doesn't mean though that if you see a person wearing a gang patch, you think, ‘crikey, they're breaking the law’ and you jump on your phone and you dial 111, that the police will be able to descend upon the offending individual, blues and twos at the go with the full weight of the law. There may be higher priorities for the police in that situation. Police Assistant Commissioner Basham says they will gather evidence allowing them to follow through with enforcement action at a later date.  

As I say, the gangs have had it pretty cruisy for some time now. That whole ‘let's work with them’ approach was tried but I don't think it was terribly successful, and I think enough time had passed to see that it wasn't actually working for the majority of us, for the rest of the community. Might have been working brilliantly for the gangs, went gangbusters, in fact, but for the rest of us, not so much. So now gangs are being told you want to live outside the community, you want to live outside the laws, you want to break the law to make a living, then expect that your life will be difficult. The community has decided enou

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood of Mornings podcast from News
Talks at B.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Police have announced Operation Nickel, a nationwide operation focused on
the enforcement of the Gang's Act twenty twenty four. What
is the Gang's Act twenty twenty four. It's the specific
piece of legislation that enforces the prohibition of the display

(00:33):
of gang insignia in public places. It provides for the
issue of dispersal notices to stop gang members from gathering
in public places, and it also makes provision for non
consulting orders to prevent specified gang offenders from associating or
communicating with each other for three years. Basically, it's to

(00:54):
make life uncomfortable for the gangs, who have had a
pretty free right of it over recent times. Paul Basham,
national Controller for the operation, says the display of gang
insignare in public places will not be tolerated when the
new laws come into effect. He says the police will

(01:15):
actively enforce any breaches as part of the operation. Before
the legislation came into effect, police engaged with gangs and
community representatives about the requirements of the Gang's Act and
what the police intended to do with the legislation. He said,
gangs are well aware that once this law comes into effect,

(01:37):
they are not allowed to wear a gang patch in public.
If they're sitting at home watching the chase, fine pop
your gang patch on and you know, be the business.
Police staff have spoken to gang leaders and made it
clear that anyone breaching the new laws can expect enforced

(01:58):
inn action, he said, And if we come across anyone
wearing gang in signare in public, we will not be
taking the excuse of agne rants as a defense. He
spoke to the My Costing Breakfast this morning and said
he is confident the gang disruption units are set up
and ready to go.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
You know, it's inevitable that, you know, we will be
responding to reports of gangs breaking the law, but you know,
in addition to that, those units will be proactive, getting intelligence,
looking to work with other police units, and taking opportunities
to sort of fill their mandate which is in lign
with the purpose of the act, which is to reduce
the ability of gangs to operate and to cause fear

(02:36):
and indimidation and destruction by the public. So as units
are really clear in terms of what the purposes and
from the twenty first of November they'll be into it,
and I think too. You know, you'll see them, you know,
sharpening their tradecraft and their skills relative to the provisions
of this legislation. And so we just see it as
an awesome tool to allow us to continue to work

(02:58):
that we do pretty much up down the country every
day any way, in the way that we place the gangs. Right.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
So there are about four hundred meetings up and down
the country. As the police said, this is what we
intend to do. This is what the legislation is. So,
you know, fear dues. It doesn't mean though that if
you see a person wearing a gang patch, oh when
you think cracky, they're breaking the law and you jump
on your phone and you dull one one one that
the police will be able to descend upon the offending

(03:25):
individual blues and twos that the go with the full
weight of the law. There may be higher priorities for
the police in that situation. Police Assistant Commissioner Basham says
they will gather evidence allowing them to follow through with
enforcement action at a later date. As I say, the
gangs have had it pretty cruisy for some time now

(03:48):
that whole let's work with them approach was tried, but
I don't think it was terribly successful, and I think
enough time had passed to see that it wasn't actually
working for the majority of us, for the community. The
rest of the community might have been working brilliantly for

(04:09):
the gangs when gangbusters in fact, but for the rest
of us not so much. So. Now gangs are being told,
you want to live outside the community, you want to
live outside the laws, you want to break the law
to make a living, then expect that your life will

(04:30):
be difficult. That we're not going to say, oh, okay, yeah,
all right. Now we get that you don't actually want
to do a nine to five and that you're not
going to make as much money working for demand as
you are selling drugs to demand. So you know, you
do you and we'll just go to work and pay

(04:51):
our taxes. We're just not The community has decided enough
is enough, and we don't want to see that anymore.
And we don't want the flaunting, and we don't want
the swaggering, and we don't want the we are sticking
two fingers to you, shoved in our face. Gangs argue
that they're not all bad, that they provide a form

(05:13):
of family for children and young people who have been
failed by their own families. And in part that is true.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
You can.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
Only imagine how woeful the families are they've come from.
If they think that the gang is a good idea,
they argue they do good works. Remember at Wellsford, north
of Auckland, when the local Headhunters had a charity motorbike
ride and rose two five hundred dollars and decided to
donate the money to the local volunteer fibrigade. The fire

(05:43):
brigade were advised to give the money back and there
was all harrumphing about that, but let's face it, they
were just looking for a bit of PR which is
a very cheap amount for good PR. Two five hundred
dollars is chump change for the headhunters. They could have
donated the proceeds of a couple of baggies and be
done with it. The tribal huck for them nada wahiir.

(06:08):
They were making and delivering sandwiches to socially deprived children
at schools in the region long before the government was
doing it. This is what the tribal huck were doing.
They also made headlines for their attempts to rid Nadawahiir
of methamphetamine, which meant that the leader, Jamie Pink, came

(06:29):
under fire during a confrontation in Nadawahia. In twenty sixteen,
the Hucks ran a Christmas party for children. They gave
money to schools for drug education. Good good boys, No,
not really. When a dispute arose within the gang, Jamie Pink,
the leader, repeatedly smashed the blunt edge of a log

(06:50):
splitting axe into the legs of his former mate, so
that the bones were sticking out of the skin on
both knees. The man needed operations to insert screws and
rods into his legs so he could walk again. In
Punk Pink as currently serving seven years at his Majesty's leisure. Yeah,
you've got the MONGROLMV Kingdom? Remember them? How frequent caller?

(07:16):
What's her name? They hired a pr woman, Louise.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Louise.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Haven't heard from her in a while. She's been lying
very low, probably because the mongrel of Kingdom turned out
to be wolves in sheep's clothing. If you're going to
be a gang, be a gang, be done with it,
Sell your drugs, live your life. It's basically a pyramid
scheme to the young ones who are thinking, should I
get a nine to five, which is really hard and

(07:45):
you have to get up five days a week, or
should I go and sell drugs for the gangs. It's
a pyramid scheme. Only a few get really, really rich.
If you're a grunt at the bottom, you get the abuse,
you get the jail terms, you get very little money.
You might get a few baubles of trinkets from the
top guys, and that's about it. It's a massa. If

(08:06):
you're looking for diversity, equality and what is it d whatever,
you're going to struggle to find that in a gang.
They don't seem to have places for women. You can
work under them, but not in the way You might
want to just be a gang and be a crim
and be done with it. You can't have your cake

(08:28):
and eat it too, or renounce the patch and the
crime and come join us. It's not that bad, it
really really isn't. You don't have to join the gang.
There are other options, but for God's sake, don't dress

(08:49):
yourself up and pretend that you're decent. People rarely providing
an alternative to the wayward in the forlorn that the
patriarchal oppressive government has failed to provide. That is total
b

Speaker 1 (09:01):
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