Gang advocates are concerned that the legislation that prohibits the wearing of gang patches or gang insignia in a private residence will lead to photos of deceased loved ones wearing gang insignia being seized.
They are also concerned that police powers could extend to other areas such as marae and urupā.
Under last-minute changes to the Gang Legislation Amendment Bill in September, anyone caught wearing a gang patch or gang insignia in a public place three times will be subject to increased search powers by police to enter homes to confiscate gang insignia or gang patches.
Former gang member and gang advocate Eugene Ryder has been working with police on the new legislation, and said whānau members of gangs and gangs themselves had asked the question.
“One of the questions asked of me was about photos of loved ones hanging on the wall that are wearing gang colors, which would fall under gang insignia.”
“On the legal advice given to the police, if they are big photos hanging on the walls, then they will most likely get taken.”
“One of the challenges is they are photos of tupuna, and there is even a possibility that those same photos could be hanging on the walls in marae.”
Legislation could open a can of worms
Ryder is also concerned new powers could be extended to target photos of gang members in marae, while headstones that contain insignia could also come under the purview of the new legislation.
“Whilst this is aimed at criminal behaviours, the duality is that some of these people aren’t involved in crime and have photos of tupuna being taken as a result of legislation, which can create a huge challenge.”
Ryder says that he doesn’t believe that police would look to seize photos hanging in marae.
“I doubt that they will.”
“But the fact that they can is what’s the problem.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell responded to questions about photos of deceased whānau members wearing gang clothing.
The minister said it was an “operational issue” to be handled by the police and doubts whether police would be targeting photos.
“I don’t think that that is something police would do.”
Tactics ‘heavy-handed’
Opposition parties have lambasted the coalition government’s legislation and want a complete halt to the bill.
Labour Māori caucus member Willie Jackson said the wide scope of the bill gave police powers to confiscate anything they deemed as gang insignia.
“That‘s one of the problems with the bill. The ’we‘re gonna knock the gangs over.’
“We don‘t have a problem with having a hard attitude toward gangs. What we do have a problem with is people’s freedoms being breached.”