Word: zealander
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Jhia's killing has reignited debate in New Zealand about whether enough has been done to deal with gangs. The government announced a review of existing laws, while justice officials have been put to work on an organized anti-gang strategy. The New Zealand Police Union has called for a Royal Commission to inquire into the gangs, and recommended a national, rather than divisional, strategy to control them. Police Minister Annette King, however, believes the incident was an anomaly-a death at a time when gangs are becoming less violent. "The killing of innocent people by gangs is very rare...
...Gang veterans say the gangs are aging, with members mellowing as they become parents themselves. Lifetime Black Power member Dennis O'Reilly, who has also worked as a senior bureaucrat for the New Zealand government, says the shooting into a gang member's house was highly unusual, and that attacks on family go against tradition. Claude Kahika, president of the Mongrel Mob's foundation Hastings chapter, admits "sporadic gang violence flares up now and again. But because of the network of older guys, a dialogue and communication is there now." He says he has been negotiating with the gangs...
...That the murder rate is so low, say many observers, is not necessarily because the police are in control but because pistols are so hard to come by in New Zealand. "It's a blessing," says sociologist Gilbert. "These kids are going into battle armed with knives and anything they can pick up off the street. If they could pick up a handgun it would be different...
...Associate Professor Greg Newbold, a New Zealand criminologist, believes the situation is now beyond control: "They might manage to suppress it in one area temporarily, and it will just crop up again somewhere else. The problem is generated by the cultural milieu and the economic conditions in that area." Newbold speaks with the authority of a man who has done jail time himself for drug dealing and written a book on crime in New Zealand. "This is their excitement. This is their entertainment. This is what they live for. They live for their patch, for their gang and for their...
...bowed heads and long faces of the vanquished, but not the deflation and self-doubt that can last for months. For sports people, the climb out of the pit happens faster when they can find some positives amid the gloom. In the case of the sailors of Team New Zealand, beaten by the Swiss Alinghi team last week in the America's Cup, that should be easy...