Gangs rife, police scarce – is National's crime crackdown possible in Ōpōtiki?

The new government promises to crack down on crime, banning gang patches, insignia and public gatherings. But in a town like Ōpōtiki where patches are a common sight, both police and gang members say the rules will be unenforceable. Sunday reporter Kristin Hall reports.

Ōpōtiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty is a place known by locals for its natural beauty. Beyond the town centre lies miles of untouched coastline, and swathes of fertile forest – a hunter-gatherers dream. The town centre is often quiet, and a little shabby, though efforts are being made to return it to the bustling dairy town it was in the 1980s.

But many out-of-towners view Ōpōtiki quite differently – as a gang town with gang problems. That was exacerbated in June last year after the killing of Mongrel Mob Barbarians leader Steven ‘Tiwana’ Taiatini, and the raucous tangi procession that ensued. Then in opposition, National claimed the town was “under siege” by gang members, and that the closure of schools and roads meant the Barbarians had effectively taken over. Many locals, including Mayor David Moore disagreed, but Ōpōtiki remained the poster child for gang disorder throughout the election campaign nonetheless.

Fast forward to 2024, and now police minister Mark Mitchell has a bold new plan for tackling gangs – a ban on gang patches and insignia, and a ban on gang gatherings in public, as well as new rules around guns and stopping gang offenders from associating with each other. The issues in Ōpōtiki are regularly cited as evidence that a crackdown is needed. But is the police minister's plan workable?

There are three main gangs in Ōpōtiki. There are the "original" gangs – Black Power chapter Mangu Kaha, and the Ōpōtiki Mongrel Mob; and, since the 2010s, the Mongrel Mob Barbarians. Patches and gang regalia can be regularly spotted in town, and it’s typical to see gang members gathering at bars, outside the courthouse or along the riverside.

Local police however, are thin on the ground, an imbalance Senior Constable Pete King can attest to.

“We have gang members going berserk at pubs, running riot over town, chasing each other in cars, shooting each other, shooting up houses…

“Our staff here are just overwhelmed with work, they just cannot do it all, it’s as simple as that. We have to prioritise our work to the point where a lot of crime is just getting left, it’s just tossed aside, pretty much… We just haven’t got the staff to deal with it… to the point we’re making our staff sick.”

King’s been policing for 40 years, and based in Ōpōtiki for 33. It’s rare for police officers to break rank and speak candidly to media, but King appears to have reached a state of desperation. He was diagnosed with major depression in 2021, which he says was caused by his job.

Unaccompanied Ōpōtiki officers are having to attend dangerous incidents “every day”, he says.

“Firearms incidents, domestics, street disorder. Those are the ones where you’re likely to strike violent offenders who are high on drugs and alcohol.”

Having accrued around 280 days of sick leave in his 40-year career, he’s been off work since his diagnosis, with his doctors saying it would be unsafe for him to return to Ōpōtiki station while it remains understaffed. He’s spent the past three years writing to police, the IPCA and Worksafe pleading for safer work conditions at Ōpōtiki station – efforts he says have been fruitless.

So, how bad is the police staffing shortage? Ōpōtiki station currently has two permanent frontline officers. There are supposed to be 12. The station in nearby Te Kaha is also only partially manned, meaning Ōpōtiki staff have to help cover that area too. Officers are being sent from Whakatāne as backfill, but that’s a 40-minute drive away. Pete says those officers have no buy-in with the community, and lack the local knowledge and contacts to be able to work constructively with gangs and criminal offenders.

King says that while the government’s patch and gathering ban is “theoretically, a good idea” it will be unenforceable in the town.

“It just will not work…here in Ōpōtiki you know, all those gang members, their whole families are gang affiliated or in the gangs themselves… We can’t attend all our domestics properly, never mind [enforce the planned rules].”

Many of King’s police associates agree. Sunday has spoken to 12 current and former Ōpōtiki police officers, who all have serious concerns about staffing at the station, and believe any crackdown on gangs will fail unless numbers are boosted. We’ve agreed to keep those who spoke to us anonymous.

“If you've got 25 gang members outside the pub patched up and, on a good day, three staff in Ōpōtiki, then do the maths on that. How's it going to work? It's not,” one says.

“The Barbarians are just young, full of testosterone idiots, you know? ...If you're lacking the policing numbers, they just they get the upper hand and that’s what’s happening,” says another.

“I would never go and try and de-patch someone because of some policy that someone in Wellington's told me to do while they’re sitting at home and having a hot cup of coffee… I'm putting my life at risk” adds another.

Police Association president Chris Cahill also has doubts about how the policy will be enforced in small towns like Ōpōtiki, saying its unlikely the act of a lone officer trying to de-patch a gang member or break up a gathering would pass the police risk assessment process (TENR).

“If you apply a risk assessment, you'd look at the threat they pose, well they’re only wearing patches, if they're not doing anything else. What's the necessity to act? ...You have to engage, if they resist physically, remove them. Is that necessary? So TENR wouldn't allow you to actually do anything probably in those circumstances.”

Cahill says he’s very concerned about the staffing situation in Ōpōtiki, but that’s just part of the picture.

“I worry that that's rural policing across New Zealand going forward. We've got the same problem in Te Kuiti, I was back there recently, only two officers were living in the town, the rest didn't live there. We’re struggling to get staff to work in Gore now… Wairoa is another example, that's always been a struggle to attract officers to Wairoa.”

He says outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, there’d be “very few” police districts that would have enough staff to enforce the new rules on a group of gang members in patches.

Ōpōtiki Mongrel Mob members Sunday spoke to agreed with police that the government's planned rules were unrealistic. Life-long member Wairata Te Oneone questioned police authority to remove people's gang patches. Another member Dion Waikato predicted such a ban would "start a war" between police and gang members in the town.

Chris Cahill says, “I think it would be a mistake for New Zealanders to think that if a police officer is driving down the street and sees patched gang members they’re immediately going to stop and be able to take those patches off them. It's just not going to work in a lot of circumstances. “

However, that’s exactly what the police minister is planning.

Mark Mitchell says that under his new rules police will have the power to seize patches and gang regalia on the spot and destroy them, with charges for anyone who resists. He says gatherings like gang tangi could result in mass arrests, though he doesn’t think that will happen.

“I don't think we're going to have to arrest our way out of this, I think that the gangs are understanding that they had a very easy run under Labour for six years… I think the gangs understand that there's a different government in place now.”

Mitchell says officers working on their own is “nothing new” in policing, and he did it himself for 10 years. He believes the rules will be enforceable, despite staffing and recruitment challenges.

“The expectation for our police is that these laws are enforced, and they will enforce them…They've got the capability, we've got the best, finest police service in the world, and they will enforce them.”

He wouldn’t commit to ensuring more police officers in Ōpōtiki and other small towns where there’s a heavy gang presence. “That is quite simply an operational matter for the commissioner, for the area commander, and the district commander," he says. "However, they have got our full backing and support to go out there and start using the new powers and they've got to get on top of the gang problem.”

He says he believes the gang patch ban will deter young people from joining gangs in the first place, and if that doesn’t work, National’s planned boot camps will.

“We're going to establish a youth military academy, so that we can actually take them and invest in them over 12 months, put the best mentors and role models that we have as a country, and try and turn them around, and try and remove them from that influence, try and give them the best possible chance of re-joining society.”

In a statement, Eastern Bay of Plenty Area Commander Inspector Nicky Cooney says police acknowledge that attracted police staff to the Ōpōtiki station has been difficult.

“Despite that, a visible Police presence for the Ōpōtiki community has been a priority for Police, which is why the station was returned to 24/7 capability in October last year, with staff deployed on secondments from Whakatāne to ensure 24/7 coverage,” she says.

Cooney says she acknowledges that demand in Ōpōtiki “often exceeds our ability to respond to every call for service” but that no officer is expected to put themselves at risk.

“We will always attend serious incidents, however, there may be occasions where this is delayed, as a result of TENR risk assessments that require our staff to wait for support.”

Pete King is now facing a medical discharge from police. Shortly after Sunday approached police for comment, he received a call saying his employment will be ending on March 13th. Police say they’re comfortable with the process that’s been followed in deciding to discharge him after an independent assessment.

It’s what King expected, but he’s fighting the medical discharge, saying he will go back to work if the staffing situation is fixed.

“I love my job, love my community, I’ve still got a lot to offer” he says. “There’s teeth in the old dog yet.”