www.familyparty.org.nz

Target drugs not patches

Family Party leader Richard Lewis says energy and recourses to ban gang patches would be better spent on the war against drug dealing. The comment comes in response to a proposed law to ban gang patches in public.

"Banning gang patches will only strengthen the sense of victimisation that unites gang members and creates appeal towards gang life. Law enforcement energy and resources would be better spent targeting the soft underbelly of gang life, which is drug dealing," says Mr Lewis.

He says while the idea of banning patches has appeal he believes it will sidetrack police from more effective measures to minimise gang activity.

"Gangs have outlasted Governments and Police Commissioners. It's naive to think banning their colours will make any discernable difference to what gangs do. But we do have the means to target the glue that holds gangs together, which is drug dealing. That's the approach that recently put a big stake in the heart of South Auckland's Killer Beez," says Mr Lewis.

The Family Party released Law and Order policies in May that focus on boosting police resources to combat gangs by targeting drug dealing and prostitution.

ENDS

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