Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/11/24

Three minutes after midnight, police make arrest under new gang patch law – but the boot camp news is disappointing

The good news on the law-and-order front today came from an ebullient Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Police had made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He had been arrested and would face “enforcement action”.

Chris Lynch: New Zealand police ready to enforce ban on gang patches in public

New Zealand police are gearing up to enforce a ban on gang patches in public, a change set to take effect on November 21.

The move, aimed at reducing the visible presence and influence of gangs, has been met with extensive preparation by police forces.

Kerre Woodham: The real purpose of the ban on gang patches in the home

As much as I hate the gangs profiting from misery and tying up police time with their internecine feuds, the late amendment to the gangs bill, banning people from wearing their gang patches in their own homes, seems ludicrous for the reasons that have been given.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: What will happen with the new gang patch ban?

I'm finding it quite amusing listening to the critics line up to tell us all the reasons why the Government's ban on gang patches won’t work.

Clearly, they don't remember what happened in Whanganui.

Ultimately, the Whanganui gang patch ban hit the same trouble that this Government's gang patch ban might also hit, which is the Bill of Rights Act.