More evidence of Police bias against Māori

Gang patch ban ‘likely’ behind increase in drug possession charges, Justice Ministry CEO says

The Ministry of Justice says an increase in charges for drug possession is probably because of gang patch laws.

Appearing at the Justice select committee for scrutiny week, the ministry’s chief executive Andrew Kibblewhite acknowledged charges for possession of cannabis for personal use had risen over the past year and a half, particularly for Māori.

Under questioning by Labour’s Ginny Andersen, he said it was only a hypothesis, but the increase was likely due to the new gang patch ban, which gives police more search powers than before.

“It’s quite likely that because there are more searches happening now there will be more drugs found, and that has seen an increase in the possession charges for both cannabis and methamphetamine.”

If the Gang Patch Ban is driving up cannabis possession charges, then there should be an increase in Gang Patch arrests and prosecutions as well.

Seeing as the new road side drug testing is totally subjective to the Officer,  Māori will be targeted and the additional punishment of cannabis use vs impairment will criminalise use not justify safety.

Here’s the funniest part of the story…

Further investigation would also be needed to understand what was driving low rates of Māori trust in police and the justice system.

…the cops said that with a straight face.

We do not have enough checks and balances to Police power, this isn’t a left wing or right wing thing, this is a basic requirement of citizen rights in a democracy.

The Police are biased towards Māori, our prison population proves that.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.