Strike Force Raptor 3.0? The new anti-gang unit, and the questions that remain
A new national gang unit – coupled with smaller 'disruption units' – will target and 'harass' gang members.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, May 15, produced in partnership with Blind Low Vision NZ.
In today’s edition: Charter schools are on the way back, the Christchurch Call will become a charity, and thousands of students are working for free. Why? But first: the government’s crime crackdown and how we ended up here.
A gang crackdown
Throughout National’s election campaign and into its time in government, we’ve repeatedly heard Christopher Luxon trot out three priorities for his leadership: rebuild the economy, restore law and order, and deliver better public services like health and education. With budget day coming up very shortly, we’re sure to hear more on the first. But yesterday saw the government take action on the second of those pillars, unveiling a new police gang unit – coupled with smaller gang “disruption units” pegged to the 12 police districts – to target and “harass” gang members. The Post’s Anna Whyte has the key details from yesterday’s press conference, where police commissioner Andrew Coster explained that the new units would build on the work of 2022’s Operation Cobalt, while new legislation – such as that banning gang patches – will provide police with additional tools to respond to the harm caused by gangs.
How we got here
If all of this sounds a bit familiar, that’s because it is. Let’s go back to 2019, when then-National Party leader Simon Bridges announced an anti-gang unit modelled on Australia’s Strike Force Raptor. At the time, National’s then-police spokesperson Brett Hudson said the taskforce would “interrupt gang activity”. This Newsroom report from back then looked at the proposal and compared it with Strike Force Raptor, which at that point had been operating for a decade. A year later, in 2020, Bridges’ replacement Judith Collins unveiled a new “gang unit”, which she specified was “not Strike Force Raptor because that’s an Australian term”. It too was tasked with “harassing and disrupting” gangs across the country. Now, four years on, we have two separate units – but this time, they’re being announced by the government and not the opposition. Police minister Mark Mitchell acknowledged the similarities to Strike Force Raptor when asked by media yesterday, and said he hoped the new gang unit would become as popular. "Normally, when the [Australian] gangs start to break out in gang warfare, the communities immediately ask to have Strike Force Raptor come in – they solely focus on gang harm and gang offending and organised crime,” he said, as reported by Newshub.
Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Andersen claimed the new announcement was just a “rebrand” of work launched by her party while in government. “I’m glad the strong law enforcement focus on gangs under Operation Cobalt and Tauwhiro will be embedded into each police district. This was supported and funded by Labour,” she said in a statement.
What the new taskforce will do
Expected to launch in July, police commissioner Andrew Coster said “almost every district” would have a specialised gang unit. “The National Gang Unit will support district-based staff to plan and coordinate enforcement, resources and police responses, in a determined effort to continue applying pressure on gangs to disrupt and prevent gang-related crime, disorder, and intimidation,” he said. As this report by Hawke’s Bay Today explained, the district-level units will help identify, target and catch “priority offenders” and “maintain a focused view of the gang environment”. If you’re wondering whether police are already doing this, Coster told RNZ’s Checkpoint that they are – but he said the new units will allow police to be “much more focused on gangs specifically, which is a clear priority for the current government”.
The unanswered questions
Firstly, there’s the question of funding – we’ll have to wait for budget day to learn that. Then, there’s how they will be staffed. Coster said he imagined 25 to 30 people will staff the new national unit, and the smaller district teams will have about seven officers each. But he can’t say yet where those staff will come from, telling Checkpoint that consultation hadn’t started yet but it would include some “reprioritisation”. So will it reduce gang numbers? Neither Coster nor the minister in charge, Mark Mitchell, would say for sure. Coster told reporters yesterday that he would know the scheme had been successful when there was reduced gang visibility in communities and a reduction in harm from gangs, which isn’t quite the same as promising a drop in gang numbers and he wouldn’t set a measurable target. Mitchell, too, struggled to commit to any measurable outcomes from the unit during his interview on Checkpoint. As The Spinoff’s Alice Neville noted last month, the government has a habit of claiming that gang numbers have “ballooned” in recent years, though the available figures are not the most accurate.
Mitchell made several references to the recent Ponsonby shooting at yesterday’s press conference, though in response to a question from RNZ’s Lisa Owen, would not say if that act – carried out by an unpatched gang member – could have been prevented by the new unit. He talked more about this on The Front Page podcast today. Coster also wouldn’t answer that, telling Checkpoint the issue of tackling gang crime was broader than just these units.
Blind Low Vision NZ does so much more than train (very cute) guide dogs
BLVNZ provides essential emotional support and practical tools to blind, deafblind and low vision New Zealanders.
Donate to Blind Low Vision NZ to help ensure that when someone loses their sight they don’t lose their freedom and independence. (sponsored)
$153m to revive charter schools
Charter schools are coming back, associate education minister David Seymour confirmed yesterday, fulfilling a key pledge made during the election campaign. The Herald broke down the key details of the announcement, with $153m in funding over four years confirmed to establish 50 charter schools (of which 35 will be converted state schools). Still unsure what a charter school actually is? Come back to The Spinoff later today for a helpful explainer. Meanwhile, Stuff’s Tova O’Brien this morning takes a closer look at the charter school model, noting they will be exempt from the government’s curriculum refresh and the new phone ban.
The thousands of students working for free
Shanti Mathias for The Spinoff today has reported on the reality of unpaid placements, where thousands of students are required to work for free each year. You might not be aware, but nurses, teachers, med students, midwives and social workers are among professions that require students to complete unpaid work placements to qualify. Ariana, a final year midwifery student, told Mathias she had recorded 2,400 hours of clinical work, not to mention attending “at least 40 births”, all without pay. “I started off filled with passion and motivation and absolutely loved going to placement… now I don’t know if I want to be a midwife anymore,” Ariana said. Now, there’s a campaign to introduce a stipend for students required to participate in work placements while studying.
Can sustainability scale to fit IKEA?
IKEA is one of the world's largest retailers. What role do we need really, REALLY big businesses to play in sustainability? How can giant brands innovate in this space? Håkan Nordkvist recently wrapped up as IKEA's head of sustainability innovation. He joined guest host Duncan Greive on Business is Boring to get into it and break down which IKEA initiatives actually worked, and how. Listen now. (sponsored)
Click and Collect
The “portal” between Ireland and New York was incredibly wholesome… until it wasn’t. Is anyone surprised?
The Christchurch Call will continue as a charity, with Jacinda Ardern remaining an integral part.
What’s next for the Ministry for the Environment? Henry Cooke takes a look on his Museum Street Substack.
Off the back of yesterday’s Bulletin, a reader got in touch and recommended RNZ’s podcast Nellie’s Baby from Kirsty Johnston. I’m now passing that recommendation on to you.
It was budget day in Australia yesterday. Here are some of the headline announcements.
The Spinoff is looking for a new staff writer – could it be you?
Anna Rawhiti-Connell writes about the reality of transphobia in New Zealand politics. Ockham-nominated authors Pip Adam and Emily Perkins discuss jealousy, joy – and Zoolander outfits. Tara Ward describes how award-winning programme Sunday said goodbye. Local music megafan Sophie Ricketts considers her favourite New Zealand band t-shirts. For The Cost of Being, a sex worker with a taste for luxury shopping breaks down her expenses.
Capital picks, with Joel MacManus
The Spinoff’s Wellington editor picks his must reads for the week.
A great deep dive from Georgina Campbell at the NZHerald, who has been doggedly unwrapping the KiwiRail megaferries story – this time, revealing terse letters between then-finance minister Grant Robertson and KiwiRail leaders over the ballooning costs of the project.
Kristin Kelly kicking off the Berhampore golf course debate again in The Spinoff. The course is on prime, central land but is notoriously underused. There's been ongoing talks about turning it into housing, or rewilding it into bush, or turning it into a park – but any change is complicated by the fact that the land it is protected under the Town Belt Act.
The Wellington Phoenix look on track to sell out Sky Stadium for their semi-final against the Melbourne Victory on Saturday, which would be a first for the club.
Conservative councillor Ray Chung has announced his intention to run for mayor at next year's election. He probably wouldn't be the biggest electoral threat to Tory Whanau (I'll have more on this soon), but he is an extremely passionate guy who is capable of rallying a crowd and could shake things up.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.