The Mongrel Mob funeral procession on State Highway 2 enroute to the Tapu Whenua Cemetery. Photo: NZME/Mark Mitchell
The Police Minister says he's "not surprised" by reports of gang members blocking streets, banging on cars, and barking.
Police have warned of potential traffic disruption from a gang-related funeral in the Wellington area on Tuesday.
On Monday, businesses on Randwick Road in Moera reported a significant gang presence.
One worker told RNZ the gang had cut off a small street, but police claimed no streets had been blocked.
RNZ had also heard of gang members banging on cars and barking.
The Mongrel Mob funeral procession on State Highway 2 enroute to the Tapu Whenua Cemetery. Photo: NZME/Mark Mitchell
Minister Mark Mitchell said he wasn't surprised by the behaviour because "the Mongrel Mob are idiots".
Large gang tangi held in Lower Hutt and Porirua
"That's the way they behave, they're antisocial and they think that they are above the law and they think that they run the place and that's why we've come out very hard against the gangs."
But he was adamant police had things well in hand.
"It relates to the death of a vice president of the Mongrel Mob, the police have got lots of resource responding to this and from what I understand they've got good control of it."
Police had the resources they needed to manage the tangi, Mitchell said.
Police on large gang tangi in Hutt Valley
"The gangs need to understand they're no longer running the streets."
He said police had changed their approach to such events under the coalition government.
"There's been a big change in the way that they do them, there's no longer standing back and filming and maybe doing some follow up action, they're actually, they're arresting people, they're seizing vehicles, they're actually enforcing the laws as we would expect them to do."
And when the gang patch ban law comes into force in a few weeks, Mitchell said he expected that to be enforced at such events too.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he had been "really impressed" by the way police had been responding to the new government, and the way gang tangi were being brought "under control".
He pointed forward to when the gang patch ban takes effect on 21 November.
"It's one quarter of 1 percent of people are gang members in this country ... and they drive up to a fifth of all of our violent crime in this country, and that has to stop.
"My message to gang members is you can't just take the rights of being a Kiwi and the freedoms of being a Kiwi, you have to have the responsibilities and duties of being a Kiwi to each other in this country as well as to the country as a whole."
He said how police "operationalise" the gang patch ban law would be entirely up to them.
"I'm sorry that I'm picking on gangs, I'm just saying, look, the root cause of violent crime is we've got a disproportionate impact coming from gang members.
"The message very clearly is gang life is not the way forward ... leave the gang, choose a better course for you and your family, and that is not the way forward."
Visible police presence
The funeral is due to take place in Lower Hutt on Tuesday, with a procession to Whenua Tapu Cemetery in Porirua.
Hutt Valley prevention manager Inspector Shaun Lingard said police had a visible presence in the Lower Hutt area overnight and would continue to monitor the procession.
"Unlawful activity will not be tolerated and any unlawful behaviour will be investigated and followed up with enforcement action."
Lingard said there was likely to be disruption to traffic in Lower Hutt, particularly around Moera, in the late morning and in Porirua and State Highway 58 in the early afternoon.
"Motorists should expect some temporary disruption and should plan accordingly.
"If you are concerned about your safety, or witness illegal behaviour happening now, please call 111 immediately."
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