Brawls and police raids: Living next door to members of rival gangs

Sunday, 12 December 2021

The Armed Offenders Squad in action on the corner of Heaphy Terrace and Clarkin Rd in Hamilton.

A Hamilton woman sits peering through her curtains, waiting, terrified of when the next swag of patched gang members will parade down the streets with knives and bats.

The woman, who talked to Stuff on the basis of anonymity, lives near two groups of state housing units, filled with rival gang members.

Fairfield’s Kāinga Ora units on Clarkin and Bankwood roads sit either side of a roundabout, and the woman said the threats, weapons and violence on the street were extreme.

She was moving away because her five-year-old son was too scared to sleep, her family was afraid to use the back garden, and walking around the neighbourhood no longer felt safe.

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The Armed Offenders Squad recently stormed two groups of Kāinga Ora flats in Fairfield, Hamilton.

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The units on Bankwood Rd and Clarkin Rd, Fairfield, sit on either side of a roundabout.

The two groups were constantly banging, yelling, swearing, and fighting with each other.

The lack intervention from authorities was disappointing, she said.

Similar conflict around clusters of state homes incidents was reported across Auckland and Christchurch in the past year.

Children in a neighbouring unit peered over the balcony to see what was happening when the Armed Offenders Squad arrived in Fairfield on December 2.

Kāinga Ora said it talked to clients about gang affiliations when finding homes, and was taking the Hamilton incidents seriously.

“I hate to say it,” the woman said, “but we've lived here for five years, and it's only since the Kāinga Ora properties have been built that we've seen this level of gang violence.”

After the family was threatened by other neighbours, who were not from Kāinga Ora properties but had gang affiliations, she prepared an escape strategy to keep her son safe.

Tensions had been escalating for days before the AOS callout, a woman in the area said, and she’d made several calls to police about the individuals involved.

The plan involved grabbing objects to protect themselves with, and getting to the back door and in the car as quickly as possible.

On December 1, she watched three men with knives exit one group of Kāinga Ora units and head towards the other, banging, yelling, and trying to smash the door.

“They clearly don't care who sees them in the street with their knives out, posturing and taking their time as they proceed confidently towards the home,” she said.

“These aren't calculating criminals, they are young men who think they're invincible.”

Police said they knew about community concerns about behaviour in the Clarkin and Bankwood road areas.

The Armed Offenders Squad and police blocked off the roads the next day, after a report of someone with a firearm.

The woman had called police multiple times about the individuals involved and said tension had been building for days.

Officers stormed both groups of units about 11am and found a 25-year-old man with an outstanding warrant for arrest, a police spokeswoman said.

The constant anxiety of waiting for the next outburst or brawl was overwhelming, the woman said.

Kāinga Ora was taking the incidents at the units seriously, homes and communities regional director Waikato Mark Rawson said in a statement.

“It's not actually the presence of gangs that is the worry, it's the levels of violence and the weapons,” she said.

She’d called police dozens of times, and officers always turned up after the event. Sometimes they didn’t come at all.

She said the noise levels and disturbances continued after police left, and ringing started to feel pointless.

“I am not here to point fingers at the police, but I do think it's hard for them to truly understand the intensity and severity of some of these events when they don't arrive in time to witness the scene.”

Police were aware of community concerns around behaviour in the Clarkin and Bankwood road areas, a police spokesman said.

Officers responded to calls for service as appropriate and prioritised jobs according to the most immediate risk to public safety.

Kāinga Ora homes and communities regional director Waikato Mark Rawson declined an interview with Stuff, but said in a statement the agency talks to clients about gang affiliations.

“While people may not always want to share this information with us, when they do, it allows us to consider their placement in relation to others in the area who may have gang connections.”

The agency was aware of incidents in the units, and was taking it seriously.

“Our focus is on housing people based on their housing need, and the vast majority of people are good neighbours and members of their communities.”

He said the agency did not discriminate against those who were connected to different groups in society, and who were equally part of the community with the right to a home.

Eviction was a last resort, Rawson said. Experience had shown it did not solve problems, because people still needed a house.

“The impact on families, and on children, who make up half the people we house, can be traumatic and long-lasting.

“We can look to move people to another home if necessary.”