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Thread: Gangs in New Zealand

  1. #1
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    Default Gangs in New Zealand

    is that true?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_in_New_Zealand

    "According to the book Gangs by Ross Kemp, New Zealand has more gangs per head then any other country in the world, with about seventy major gangs and over 4,000 patched members in a population of about 4,000,000 people."


  2. #2
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    I would believe it. My next door neighbour is patched up Mongrel Mob (Rotorua chapter, but he also has a Maketu patch).

    I believe you're more likely to be troubled by prospects than old school gang members as they're trying to prove they're bad enough to be patched. You see teens swaggering and decked out in either red or blue (red = mongrel mob, blue = black power, yellow = tribesmen or killer beez). The older guys might look intimidating because of their patches but I've not had any experience of this.

    We lived in our house just over a year and our neighbour has been pretty good. We've been given a tray of duck eggs (from his cousin's farm), venison chops (left over from a tangi at the marae), lemons and grapefruit, and Maori steamed pudding (absolutely delicious). In return they've had fresh vegetables and the kids' bike tyres and rugby balls have been pumped up as required.

  3. #3
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    Yikes, I thought LA and Detroit were bad

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by miguelaustro View Post
    is that true?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_in_New_Zealand

    "According to the book Gangs by Ross Kemp, New Zealand has more gangs per head then any other country in the world, with about seventy major gangs and over 4,000 patched members in a population of about 4,000,000 people."

    What's the point?

    I think by comparison gangs and their members here are of low calibre. It is not enough just to count numbers, these need to be evaluated, i.e. statistics per se don't tell you anything only the interpretation.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by ralf-nz View Post
    What's the point?

    I think by comparison gangs and their members here are of low calibre. It is not enough just to count numbers, these need to be evaluated, i.e. statistics per se don't tell you anything only the interpretation.
    ralf-nz, thank you for your comments. This is a very important point to be considered. America's gangs are not the same as NZ's gangs. In NZ It seems to be like a life style than a criminal organization, isn't it?

  6. #6
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    Ally's assessment seems spot on to me. Even in the US it's not the gang members you so much need to look out for, it's the wannabes and hangers on. Gang members will most often have issues with other gang members, but punk kids with a chip on their shoulder will have a problem with everyone.

  7. #7
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    I have not noticed any gang activity since arriving in NZ a year and a half ago. Not that I've been looking for it though.

    Everyone I've talked to (including people from Wanganui- which is supposed to have a lot of gangs) asks me about the horrible gang problem in the US, and when I've asked about the problem here they look at me weird and ask what I'm talking about.

  8. #8
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    Not seen anything yet in Welly (2 1/2 months in).

  9. #9
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    In NZ It seems to be like a life style than a criminal organization, isn't it?
    From my observation, gang warfare in NZ seems more to do with getting attention than conducting real business. Kinda like 'un-organised' crime. I also find NZ gangs are in the news media headlines all too often. I know that from growing up in Canada, there's not a lot of news about the Hell's Angles gang or (it must be the police keeps a good lid on it). Growing up in my teen years I knew a friend that ended up in what they call a puppet gang. I think it's these puppet gangs are what we see here in NZ and they don't really conduct any serious business operations like the Hell's Angels gangs do. I mean, the Hell's Angels gang is truly a world class organization and they don't do the dirty work. The RCMP for years have had a very hard time bringing this organisation down and time after time, the courts have only managed to give out light sentences because nothing seems to stick to the gang.

  10. #10
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    As I understand it the gangs here deal out or control most of the illicit drugs. From my experience through working in health here gang related crime is generally fairly intimidating, very serious and not be underestimated.

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