Word: crimeeds
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...appears to be nurturing a new, more violent mutation. Last month, the country's older ethnic gangs were involved in a series of tit-for-tat drive-by shootings that left a toddler dead; meanwhile the country's juvenile gangs have emerged as a new force in crime, linked to eight killings and many hundreds of other violent crimes in the past two years. Sully Paea is a youth worker who tries to reform young gang members. "We've already lost one generation to the gangs," he says. "The generation we are working with...
...Both gangs have a predominantly Maori membership and conduct initiation ceremonies in which potential members or "prospects" must prove themselves. The tests range from the revolting-drinking urine from a gumboot is one of the milder ordeals described by former members-to the criminal, such as committing a specific crime, being bashed by the whole gang or serving time in jail. Prospects are often required to serve a stint as the gang's errand...
...While ordinary folk rarely encounter gang members or fall victim to gang violence, the gangs' reputation for brutality is well deserved. Many New Zealanders remember dreadful crimes that prompted tougher laws. In 1988, a 19-year-old woman was kidnapped and taken to a Mongrel Mob convention in Auckland, where she was raped by at least 15 men, beaten, urinated on, covered in petrol and photographed over a nine-hour period before she escaped. In 1996, police witness Christopher Crean, who had testified against Black Power members who'd taken part in a violent brawl, was murdered in front...
...mayor of Wanganui sees it very differently. "That's bullshit," says Michael Laws, who wants gangs banned from public areas. "You might have the older ones doing less crime, but they are still recruiting. And you get the younger ones who need to do crime to become patched. We've got all the police statistics for our area. The number of gang-on-gang incidents tripled in 2006, and would be even worse...
...influence on gang affairs, despite having once been told, he claims, that police thought he was the largest amphetamines dealer in New Zealand. "I was so hurt by that," he says, "not just me, but for my family and my larger family. But I can honestly tell you that crime has dropped 80% in Hastings since I became president...