Photo: RNZ / John Edens
The National Iwi Chairs Forum has raised concerns over new legislation which would ban gang patches in public.
Members of the forum expressed their concerns during a recent meeting with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.
The forum's Pou Tangata co-chairperson Rahui Papa said they were concerned that Māori incarceration levels will increase if the police do not use their discretion in applying the new law.
An increased police presence could lead to conflict and negatively impact whānau, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas where gang presence is entrenched, he said.
"It will mean families will be disrupted, that tamariki and mokopuna will be witness to a lot of these things if discretion isn't applied here," he said.
One of the forum's major concerns was that the bill was geared towards Māori and Pasifika, Papa said.
"[Politicians are] not talking about other types of gangs in New Zealand, they're talking about mainly the major gangs that Māori and Pasifika have gravitated to."
The face-to-face kōrero was productive and Papa said he was confident the commissioner had heard their concerns.
"Commissioner Coster has to apply the rule of law here, but actually there's a discretion the police can apply that will minimise impact (on) families and we implore him to follow that pathway."
Papa said he encouraged whānau to read up on the bill to understand their rights and what the police can and cannot do.
The Gang Legislation Amendment Bill contains a range of new powers which the government says directly target gang activity. It would:
- prohibit the display of gang insignia in a public place;
- empower police to issue dispersal notices that require specified gang members to leave a public place and not associate in public for seven days;
- create a new non-consorting order that prohibits association and communication between specified gang members for three years;
- amend the Sentencing Act 2002 to make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing.