Many people say they want to live in New Zealand because ‘it’s such a great place to raise kids‘, or ‘that kids can be kids for longer there‘.  Of course the reality is very different, see previous post.

Well, if despite that, you are still planning on making the move into this “culture of brutality” be sure to see that your kids don’t wear the wrong colour clothing because one poor mite in a park in Whakatane, Bay of  Plenty (a Black Power stronghold) was assaulted by a man in his 20s for wearing a red T shirt – Mongrel Mob colours.

Chose your colours with care because you may unwittingly be exposing your kids, or yourself, to the danger of random and unprovoked violence.

New Zealand has more gangs per head than 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 (source) and has a problem with youth and street gangs that stretches back to the 1950s.

According to a report from the NZPA:

“The boy was playing in Whakatane’s Cutler Crescent reserve last week when the gang member, thought to be in his mid 20s to early 30s, approached the child while his father’s back was turned, poked him in the chest and shouted at him to remove the shirt, said Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins of Whakatane police.

The man then physically removed the shirt from the boy before his father could intervene.

Whakatane is known as the territory of the Black Power gang, which is associated with blue-coloured clothing.

The boy’s parents, who were shocked by the incident, declined to comment, but Mr Jenkins said police were treating it very seriously.

“We are very concerned about the age of the victim in this incident. That someone is picking on a kid in this manner is very worrying and we are looking to hold them to account for their actions.

“I think this offender is despicable and the police are intent on finding out who is responsible.”

The man was described as a male Maori, clean shaven with black short hair and about 170cm tall. He was wearing a blue T-shirt with “Whakatane” in white lettering on the front, black pants and blue bandannas around his wrists and neck.

There have been a number of gang colour-related assaults in the Bay of Plenty recently.

In November last year a teenager was assaulted by a group in the carpark of the Whakatane Pak’N Save because he was wearing a red t-shirt.

In January last year Murupara 16-year-old Jordan Herewini was run down and killed outside his home by a vehicle stolen from a family member.

Mongrel Mob members from Kawerau were charged with his murder. At the time of the slaying, the boy was wearing a yellow shirt – a colour associated with the rival Tribesmen gang.”

For more about gangs in New Zealand read New Zealand’s Gang Problem on Blogger

There’s also a Wikipedia page that you may want to familiarise yourself with, you owe it to your kids:

“There are numerous gangs in New Zealand, of varying criminality, organisation and ethnicity. According to the New Zealand Police, the three most prominent New Zealand gangs are Black Power (not related to the African-American movement); the Mongrel Mob, and the Nomads. Other gangs are prominent in particular areas, for example the Junior Don Kings (JDK) and Dope Money Sex (DMS) in Central Auckland.

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.

According to sociologist Jarrod Gilbert, New Zealand has had problems with youth and street gangs since the 1950s. However organised crime gangs such as those which currently dominate the New Zealand scene mostly date from the 1970s. ‘Gangsta‘ style gangs have been a presence in New Zealand since the early 1990s but individual gangs of this type are typically short lived.^[1] New Zealand gangs have generally been heavily influenced by their American counterparts. Although Black Power takes its name from the black liberation movement of the same name, in many ways it and similar gangs are much more akin to white American motorcycle gangs such as the Hell’s Angels. Since the early 1990s newer gangs have primarily been influenced by African American street gangs such as the Crips and Bloods.

Gang members are a minority of New Zealand criminals. A New Zealand Ministry of Justice study showed that in 1991 just under 80% of prison inmates had no gang history, and just over 90% had no current gang membership. Of the prison population, 4% were members of the Mongrel Mob and 4.3% former members, while 3.6% were current and 3.2% former members of Black Power. No other gang had more than one percent of the prison population. A similar study in 2003 showed that 11.3% of prison inmates were gang members. Of these, about a third each were Mongrel Mob or Black Power, with no other gangs having more than 5% of the imprisoned gang population.^“

Or any of the posts tagged Gangs, also take a look at the videos in the side bar ->.