Push gang out, top cop says

Timaru’s top cop has joined the mayor in calling on the community to send a message that the Head Hunters gang is not welcome in the town or district.

‘‘Timaru does not deserve to be tarred with the brush of being the gang centre of New Zealand that it was in the late 1980s and 1990s, we don’t want that again,’’ Aoraki area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said.

Last week mayor Nigel Bowen told the Head Hunters gang to ‘‘bugger off’’ after news it had shifted its South Island headquarters to Timaru and established a base in the former Road Knights pad.

At the time, Bowen called on members of the community to refrain from doing business with the gang and advised residents to ‘‘close the door and say these guys aren’t welcome’’.

As Bowen made his comments, Gaskin also aired concerns about the presence of gangs, saying he was ‘‘concerned at all times’’ when there were gangs in the community.

A senior patched member of the gang, Stephen William Daly, known as Teflon Daly, recently moved from Whanga¯rei to Timaru.

He and associates are understood to have patched over members and started altering their High St property.

Gaskin has acted on his concerns, contacting civic and business leaders and asking them to rally the community to help push the ‘‘criminal organisation’’ out of the area.

‘‘Some parts of gangs have family links, but the Head Hunters are a criminal organisation under the guise of a gang.’’

Gaskin said it would take a complete community effort to ensure the Head Hunters did not gain root in Timaru.

‘‘We don’t want them to have time to develop.’’

He said he did not know whether the Head Hunters had aligned themselves with any other gangs in the area.

In a newsletter to members, the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said Gaskin has asked the organisation to warn its members of an increased gang presence in Timaru.

‘‘In the interests of safety and the welfare of your teams please be particularly vigilant,’’ chamber chief executive Wendy Smith said.

‘‘If you have an increase in customers who are unfamiliar to you, or you have any concerns, you can contact the police by phoning 105 or in the event of an emergency of course phone 111.

‘‘The police need to be kept informed of any unusual activity and this will be treated in the strictest confidence.’’

Gang expert, and director of criminal justice and senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury, Dr Jarrod Gilbert, said Timaru had been home to patched gangs since the late 1970s.

He said opportunity would have drawn the Head Hunters to Timaru with the long-established Road Knights gang fading away.

‘‘Timaru has had its share of gang warfare, especially in the early 90s when they were at war.

‘‘I don’t anticipate it happening again; the chances are incredibly low and the police will be monitoring it very closely.’’

Asked what other gangs were in Timaru, Gilbert said as far as he was aware the Devil’s Henchmen (the oldest), Black Power and the Mongrel Mob all had a presence in the town.

‘‘Some parts of gangs have family links, but the Head Hunters are a criminal organisation under the guise of a gang.’’

Inspector Dave Gaskin