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A long-time advisor to Black Power says the anti-gang policies coming out of National and ACT are like listening to drunks on the corner.
Denis O’Reilly is endorsing a report by the Prime Minister’s chief science advisor, Dame Juliet Gerrard, that says we can’t arrest ourselves out of the “gang problem”.
He says her focus on wahine and tamariki was positive, and there is also intelligent policing going on, with police going hard after drug sellers and working with pro-social elements in the gangs.
In contrast, National’s police minister-in-waiting, a former dog handler, is talking with his old mates on the force who want to return to being the biggest gang in town.
“Just think of the frunk on the corner, you can’t talk sense to them, wait till they sober up after the election. There’s going to be some forgiveness required because relationships have been damaged. These guys are drunk on the quest for power so wait until they sober up,” Mr O’Reilly says.
He says the criminalisation of gangs and the withdrawal of any employment o rother support has been a massive public policy failure on both sides of the political aisle.
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