I’m sure you’ve heard about the gang patch ban in Wanganui

Hi Mr Laws,

I was thinking about this gang patch ban and I was wondering if you
had thought about the consequences about banning the patches in
public.

You could unintentionally create a situation like with the Crips and
Bloods in Los Angeles where the gangs are signified by coloured
clothing instead. This in turn leads to innocent members of the
public being gunned down for wearing the wrong colour.

Problem is, you can’t outlaw wearing the colour red or black. So in
effect the gang patches really signify to the public who it is they
have to stay the f**k away from, protecting the public somewhat. It
will also allow the authorities to instantly identify possible
problematic people. Really the gangs wearing patches plays right into
the authorities hand allowing them to spot people by a patch rather
than by a colour – which could lead to them keeping an eye on the
wrong people.

I am worried that if the gangs eventually start taking your patch ban
seriously you could have more problems than you started out with.
Perhaps you were trying to make sure they didn’t come into public
areas because they weren’t allowed to wear their patch there? I doubt
they will stay home just so they can wear their patch.

Unless of course you have already thought about this and have some
plan to counteract it.

Regards,
Robert McLeod

EDIT: He emailed me back and basicaly what it seems like this law is for is so they can harass the gang members so much that hopefully they don’t bother coming into town. Also gang colours are banned too… on peopl with known gang affiliations. I’m not sure if I like this idea or not.