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Labour is hitting back against accusations it is soft on crime with a promise of 300 new frontline police, strengthened legal protections against stalking and harassment and a further crackdown on gang leaders and disruptive gang convoys.
Announcing the policy in Hamilton this morning, leader Chris Hipkins said having communities disrupted and intimidated by gang convoys is intolerable.
Labour will introduce laws to punish this behaviour and develop new ways to target gangs leaders and break their international links.
He says as Government Labour has already been effective in curbing the illegal profits and offending of gangs, including passing laws to give Police more powers during gang conflicts.
It also delivered 1800 new Police officers, the largest increase in policing numbers in history, meaning every district received extra resources.
Labour’s six point plan for safer communities includes modernising stalking and harassment laws to bring them into line with overseas jurisdictions.
Adding an offence of stalking to the Crimes Act, if aligned with laws in Australia and the United Kingdom, could entail a penalty of between 12 months to 3 years’ imprisonment, with stronger penalties if the person has possession of a weapon.
Mr Hipkins says the alternative under National and ACT is expensive American-style mega prisons, more high-powered military-style guns getting into the hands of gangs and other criminals due to ACT’s firearms proposals, and the reintroduction of bootcamps, which have an 80 per cent failure rate.
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