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Why is gang membership growing and how are gangs changing? Most recent figures from the police Gang Harm Insights Centre suggests there are 8900 gang members in New Zealand.
This compares with 10,700 frontline police officers.
National is promising a crackdown on gangs if it forms the next government, including banning gang patches in public, and giving police powers to stop gang members gathering in public.
NZ Herald investigative reporter Jared Savage has for years now been exploring the country's growing underbelly of organised crime and violent gangs, with particular focus on the methamphetamine trade.
His first bestselling book Gangland was about the evolution of gangs in New Zealand.
His new book, Gangster's Paradise, just released, is all about their escalation, which he attributes in large part to Australia's policy of deporting so-called 501s.
