New police dispersal powers

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✦ AI Overview

Pitched as giving police the tools to break up gang intimidation in public, by letting officers move gang members on and stop them congregating.

The Policy: National Police Powers Policy — 2023 Election →

What it does:

Sits inside the Gangs Act 2024, which passed its third reading 68-55 on 19 September 2024 and came into force on 21 November 2024.
Dispersal notice: a constable who has reasonable grounds to suspect three or more gang members are gathering in a public place, and that the gathering is disrupting others, can require them to leave immediately and not associate with each other in public for 7 days.
Non-consorting orders: the District Court, on application by the Commissioner of Police, can bar specified gang offenders from associating or communicating with each other for up to 3 years.
Sits alongside the gang insignia ban and Gang Insignia Prohibition Orders introduced by the same Act; the Act applies to a scheduled list of 35 identified gangs.
Justice Ministers Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell introduced the bill on 25 February 2024.

The result: The law is on the books and in force, so as a legislative promise it was delivered. But the dispersal power itself has barely been used. Police figures covering the first three months (21 November 2024 to 19 February 2025) recorded zero dispersal notices, zero non-consorting orders and zero prohibition orders, against 337 insignia charges and 76 patches seized. The first dispersal notice was not issued until 13 March 2025, to four people after a firearms incident in Torbay, Auckland. Government and police framed the wider crackdown as a success: by the six-month mark police reported 6,052 charges against gang members and said fear and intimidation had reduced. Critics counter that the headline activity is overwhelmingly the patch ban, not the dispersal or consorting powers the policy promised.

The impacts to watch:

Whether the dispersal power is ever used at scale, or remains a rarely-deployed tool: attention focused almost entirely on visible patch enforcement in its first year.
Civil-liberties exposure: Attorney-General Judith Collins reported the patch ban and dispersal powers as inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act rights to expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Whether it changes underlying gang strength: police records show patched and prospect gang membership rose from about 9,460 in October 2024 to roughly 9,919 by May 2025, even as visible insignia largely vanished from the streets.

This overview is summarised by AI from public sources. It may contain errors and is a guide, not the definitive record — we welcome corrections.

❓ Our Questions — you decide

Where our research raises a question the policy doesn't answer, we put it to you — these are our questions, not government policy. Your vote stays anonymous even when you sign up (we use sign-up only to send you more things to vote on that you care about), and we report aggregated results only — the country's sentiment, never how any individual voted.

In its first three months this dispersal power was used zero times. Was it still worth passing so police have the option available when they need it?

Should police be able to order people to leave a public place and stay apart for 7 days based only on an officer's suspicion that they are gang members?

Should police dispersal notices count as delivering the promise if they are almost never used?

Should powers that the Attorney-General flagged as inconsistent with the Bill of Rights be in force without further safeguards?

Should the government measure these gang laws by actual gang membership and crime, rather than visible patch enforcement?

Key milestones

Mar 2024official

Gangs bill introduced and passes first reading

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell introduced the Gangs Legislation Amendment Bill, which created new police dispersal powers, non-consorting orders and a gang insignia ban. Parliament backed it at first reading 102-21 on 7 March 2024, with most parties supporting it going to select committee.

New Zealand Legislation - Gangs Bill ↗

Sep 2024official

Gangs Act passes third reading

The Gangs Act 2024 passed its third reading 68-55 on 19 September 2024 and received royal assent on 23 September. The Act lets police issue dispersal notices requiring three or more gang members to leave a public place and not associate for 7 days, and lets the District Court make non-consorting orders lasting up to 3 years.

Gangs Act 2024 - New Zealand Legislation ↗

Nov 2024official

New powers come into force

The Ministry of Justice confirmed the dispersal, non-consorting and insignia provisions took effect on 21 November 2024. The dispersal power lets a constable order gang members to move on where they have reasonable grounds to suspect a gathering is disrupting the public.

Gang laws come into effect - Ministry of Justice ↗

Feb 2025official

Three months in, no dispersal notices used

Police figures for 21 November 2024 to 19 February 2025 showed enforcement was concentrated on the patch ban: 337 insignia charges, 76 patches and 67 firearms seized, and 3,037 total charges against gang members. Over the same period police recorded zero dispersal notices, zero non-consorting orders and zero prohibition orders. Commissioner Richard Chambers called it a positive start.

Police put pressure on gangs - NZ Police ↗

Mar 2025news

First dispersal notice issued in Auckland

Police issued the first dispersal notice under the Act after a firearms incident in Torbay on Auckland's North Shore. Six people were stopped; four who were not charged were ordered to leave and not associate for 7 days. Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham said the new tools were helping hold gangs to account. RNZ and 1News noted it came roughly three months after the powers took effect.

Police issue first dispersal notice - 1News ↗

May 2025news

Six months on: government cheers, gangs shrug

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said police had done an outstanding job enforcing the laws, citing 6,052 charges against gang members, 132 patches seized and 426 searches in six months, and reduced community fear. But a Mongrel Mob Aotearoa chapter captain told 1News the gangs had grown and flourished, and police data showed patched and prospect membership rising from about 9,460 to 9,919 over the same window.

Gang leader six months into patch ban - 1News ↗

2026

Public reaction across platforms

Reaction splits sharply: supporters say the streets feel safer with patches and intimidating gatherings gone, while critics call the dispersal power a barely-used add-on to a patch ban that does not touch the causes of gang crime, and civil-liberties voices warn about freedom of association.

See the conversation:

Aggregated — individual posts are not cited.

Sources

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