FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Why do people join gangs?
People join gangs for a variety of reasons including...

• Status, respect and power.
• Protection.
• Excitement.
• Financial benefits.
• Brotherhood.
• A sense of belonging.
• Family ties.
• Peer pressure.

How do gangs recruit new members?
Gangs recruit from a variety of sources including...

• Family members and extended family.
• Criminal associates and supporters of the club.
• “Feeder” groups, such as “social” motorcycle clubs.
• Prison.
• Other gangs.
• Other chapters, (such as members moving from one Mongrel Mob chapter to another).
• Public events, such as motorcycle shows and poker runs.
• Internet, via gang websites and networking sites.

Many gangs could double or treble their membership overnight if they wanted to. Most gangs, particularly motorcycle gangs, like to restrict their numbers so they have greater control over their members. The majority of gangs prefer to approach potential prospects than have people come to them asking to join. Some gangs struggle to attract suitable prospects. They will sometimes take whoever they can get, rather than have no prospects at all, so they have people to undertake menial tasks for them.

How old are most prospects?
Prospects of motorcycle gangs are normally aged in their late 20's to late 30's although they are sometimes considerably older. (There have been a few occasions in New Zealand where prospects have been aged in their 50's). Prospects in ethnic gangs are usually younger and are often in their late teens. Prospects of street gangs can be even younger.

How long does it take for a prospect to gain their patch?
The amount of time that a person spends “prospecting” varies from gang to gang and depends on how well the prospect performs. The time can vary from several months to many years. It usually takes from one to three years for most motorcycle gangs. Prospects in ethnic gangs usually take from three to twelve months to earn their patch.

What do prospects do?
Prospects are normally treated like slaves. They are required to do tasks such as guarding motorbikes, keeping the clubhouse clean, working the bar, doing guard duty at the clubhouse and running errands for members. In some gangs a person “prospects” under one particular member, while in others prospects work for all patchmembers.

Prospects are required to spend a significant amount of their time at the clubhouse or on gang related activities. They must do as directed by patchmembers. Prospecting is similar to an apprenticeship. Prospects are taught the way the club operates and as they progress they learn more and more about the gangs criminal activities.

What does a prospect have to do to earn his patch?
A prospect must gain the trust of all members. He must prove that he will put the gang ahead of everything else. He must be accepted as a person who will remain loyal to the gang no matter what. Prospects are usually voted in by patchmembers and in many gangs this must be unanimous.

Patching criteria will depend on what is happening at the time. If a gang needs members in a hurry, normal procedures will be relaxed and a prospect may gain their patch quicker than usual. In some gangs people can become patchmembers without ever prospecting.

Prospects must be prepared to engage in illegal activities to prove their loyalty to the gang and to eliminate the possibility that they are an undercover police officer. I don’t know of any gang member who has gained his patch without engaging in some form of crime.

Are there any specific crimes that a prospect must commit before he earns his patch?
Prospects gain their patch after gaining acceptance from members of the gang after a suitable period of time. Prospects that are close to receiving their patch are sometimes told to commit a particular crime (such as an aggravated robbery) as a final test of their courage and commitment to the gang. This is more common in gangs like the Mongrel Mob or Black Power than motorcycle gangs.

A prospect will sometimes gain their patch when they commit a particular crime, especially if is something done in the interests of the gang, (such as attacking a rival) or accepting the blame for a crime committed by another member of the gang (“taking the rap”).

The amount of crime that a prospect commits varies considerably from gang to gang. At the bare minimum all prospects are likely to commit firearms and weapons offences because they spend considerable time on “guard duty” when they are responsible for the security of the clubhouse. This involves knowing where firearms and other weapons are kept and moving the weapons when the gang believes they are going to be raided by the police. Prospects are often responsible for carrying guns and other weapons on behalf of the gang.

Gangs have a hierarchical structure and prospects are often the ones who commit crimes while those higher up reap the rewards. Prospects are often considered “disposable” and are used by patchmembers to do their dirty work. From the gang’s point of view, it is better that prospects get in trouble than patchmembers.

Do gangs still have initiation ceremonies?
Some gangs have initiation ceremonies but in most bike gangs the new member receives his patch with nothing more than handshakes, backslaps and hugs from the members. There’s usually a party afterwards (known as a “patching party”) when he’s expected to shout.

In the 1960’s and 70’s a new patch would often be defiled by other members, who would pour urine, excrement or other waste products over it, usually while the new member was wearing it! There’s a couple of clubs that still do this but most have moved on.

What rules do gangs have about wearing gang clothing?
There are times when gang members must wear their patch (such as “church” - the gang's weekly meeting) but for the rest of the time it is up to the member what gang clothing he wears. Some always wear some form of gang clothing, such as their patch, gang T-shirts, jewellery or a particular colour of clothing (such as red for the Mongrel Mob or blue for the Black Power). Other gang members prefer to adopt a much lower profile and only wear gang clothing when they have to.

Members of some bike gangs must wear their patch whenever they ride their motorbike. Motorcycle gangs normally have the rule that patches must not be worn inside a vehicle.

What happens if a gang member loses his patch?
A gang member is expected to look after this patch at all costs. He can be kicked out of the gang if he is careless with his patch, such as having it stolen. (Some gang members keep their patch at the clubhouse when they aren’t wearing it to prevent this happening).

If a gang member loses his patch to rivals, he is expected to do everything he possibly can to retrieve it as soon as possible. Taking a gang member's patch is not only an insult to the gang member who lost it, but to the gang as a whole. The forcible taking of a rivals patch is known as “scalping” and has become less common due to the repercussions that follow. People have been killed in New Zealand over the theft of a gang patch.

In some gangs if a member loses his patch through no fault of his own, he will be given another patch. In other gangs, members get one patch, and if they lose it, they don’t get another one.

What types of offending are gang members involved in?
Gang members are involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including… homicides, assaults, home invasions, robberies, kidnapping and extortion, firearms and weapons offences; manufacture and distribution of drugs, cultivation of cannabis; sexual offences; burglary, theft, receiving and other property related offences; and fraud.

Core activities for many gang members involve violence and drug dealing. Gangs use many forms of intimidation to maintain control of their criminal activities including threats and physical assaults.

Are all gang members criminals?
The amount of criminal activity varies considerably from gang to gang and also between individual gang members. Not all gang members commit crime. There are some who get up and go to work each day! However, the overwhelming majority of gang members are career criminals who are heavily involved in crime. The vast majority of New Zealand gang members sell drugs, particularly methamphetamine (‘P’) and cannabis. Crime is at the core of most gangs and is often the main reason they exist.

Those few gang members who do not commit crime are surrounded by it. They are expected to turn a blind eye to what goes on around them and to maintain a cone of silence and not assist police or implicate others.

How does a gang split the proceeds of crime?
Most offending is done on an individual basis, where the person involved in crime keeps the proceeds for themselves. Members are free to do whatever criminal activity they want as long as it doesn’t interfere with “club business,” reflect badly on the gang or break any of the gang’s rules. Membership of the gang gives them the freedom to carry out their offending knowing they have the support and protection of the gang should any problems arise. Some gangs require members to give the gang a percentage of the proceeds of their illegal activities (usually around 10%).

Many gangs have what they call “club business”, which is conducted for the benefit of the club as a whole. For example, a gang will sometimes make a bulk purchase of drugs, which are then sold to individual members at a price that will make the gang money and also leave room for the member to make money on the deal too.

Prospects are sometimes ordered to commit crime and the proceeds go to the gang as a whole or in some cases to the member who told the prospect to do the crime.

Do gangs have any rules about drug use?
Most motorcycle gangs have rules about what drugs members are allowed to use, what drugs members are allowed to sell and what drugs are allowed to be kept at the gang clubhouse.

Heroin use and recreational needle use is banned by most gangs. Heroin use is usually punished by immediate expulsion because gangs are very concerned that the persons drug use will override their loyalty to the gang. The sale of heroin is banned by most bike gangs (mainly due to the dangers of dealing with a client-base renowned for being police informers!)

Many bike gangs have banned their members from smoking P although they still sell it. It should be noted that while smoking P is banned, members are allowed to “snort” the same stuff, (this is considered to be doing “speed” not P). Many methamphetamine users claim that the “come down” from snorted meth is nowhere near as bad as the “come down” from smoking P.

Members are expected to “handle their drugs”. Some gangs will ban members from using drugs until they have got their drug use under control. Members with serious drug problems are sometimes kicked out because they are considered to be a risk to the gang.

Do all gang members use drugs?
Drugs are used by the vast majority of gang members, however there are a few that do not use any drugs at all. It’s more common to find a gang member that doesn’t drink alcohol than one who doesn’t use drugs.

What precautions do gang members take to avoid being caught by the police?
A gang will often have a standard way of doing things which all members are expected to follow. These have evolved over time and dictates how members should conduct illegal activities so they won’t get caught or implicate other members of the gang. Some gang members are very professional and are extremely hard to catch.

The following precautions are often taken...

• Only dealing with persons they have known for a long time.
• Conducting counter surveillance.
• Using debugging equipment.
• Writing things down (rather than speaking out loud) to prevent being bugged.
• Meeting in places that the police would be unable to bug.
• Using codes and sign language.
• Using safehouses or storage units to hide illegal items.
• Operating in small groups.
• Having other people accept blame (“Taking the rap”).
• Using associates to do their “dirty work”.
• Using “front men” to conceal their involvement in some types of regulated activities (such as owning licensed premises).

Some gang members are better at crime than others. Our jails are full of gang members, proving they aren’t all criminal masterminds. Some take very few precautions and rely on violence and intimidation so victims will be too scared to make complaints to the police.

What is taxing?
“Taxing” is when a person is “fined” by a gang member for perceived (or imaginary) wrongs and money and/or property is taken from them. Refusal results in violence. It’s certainly not uncommon for persons to be fined tens of thousands of dollars or to be taxed their car or motorbike. Persons are taxed for a variety of reasons including using a gang’s name, saying something bad about a gang member or being late paying a debt. Most victims don’t make a complaint to the police due to fear of repercussions from the gang.

What do I do if I’m being threatened by gang members?
If you are threatened by a gang member contact the police as soon as possible. If the circumstances are such that you don’t have the opportunity to call the police then your first priority is to make yourself safe. It’s better to give up property than to risk serious injury from an assault. Call the police as soon as you can safely do so. Gang members tend to pick on the weak and if they find a “soft target” they often continue to victimise them. If you don’t make a complaint to the police, the gang member is likely to keep taking things from you. The police will give you advice about how to keep yourself safe including how to avoid further threats and intimidation.

What is the worst gang in New Zealand?
New Zealand gangs have a long history of committing serious crimes. The majority of gang members have many convictions and most have served terms of imprisonment. Gang chapters are usually autonomous and there are big differences in how individual chapters are run, so some chapters are worse than others, and some gang members are worse than others. Gangs take pride in their nasty reputations and I won’t add to it by saying who I consider to be the worst.

How often do gang members carry weapons?
The weapons carried by gang members will depend on the circumstances at the time, such as relations with rivals and the amount of attention they are receiving from the police. Some gangs require their members to carry a weapon whenever they are wearing their patch, so they can protect their colours if attacked by rivals. The weapon need not be a knife or a gun and is often a large metal torch, a spanner or a hammer.

What weapons do gangs have and who looks after them?
Gangs usually have a range of weapons at their disposal. Gangs and firearms go hand in hand and there’s usually at least one firearm keep at the gang’s clubhouse in case of an attack by rivals. Pistols and sawn-off shotguns are the most common firearms but most gangs have access to other firearms including semi automatic weapons. The sergeant at arms is in charge of the gangs’ arsenal, although in most gangs members will also have their own weapons.

What are the reasons for gang violence?
Gang violence occurs for a number of reasons including...

• Protection of criminal activities.
• Personal interests
• Inter-gang rivalry
• Internal gang disputes.

Gang violence can be very hard to predict because it’s often spontaneous. It can be a simple case of someone being caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, or showing someone disrespect. Gang violence is sometimes unavoidable for gang members because they are expected to act a certain way, regardless of the consequences.

What are common security features of gang clubhouses?
Most gang pads have extensive security features. When one gang has serious conflict with another, rival clubhouses are acceptable targets.

The following features are common...

• Closed circuit television cameras.
• Sensor lights.
• High fences.
• Secure entry.
• Intercom buzzer.
• Alarms.
• Wire mesh netting (to stop objects that are thrown into the pad).
• Lookout platforms.
• Guards. (Most gangs have rostered guard duty).
• Weapons. (Most pads have at least one firearm in case of attacks by rivals).
• Guard dogs.
• Crash barrier (to prevent a vehicle been driven through the front entrance).

What is “Church”?
Church is the gang’s regular meeting that all members must attend. Most gangs hold church once a week. Church is for patchmembers only and prospects do not attend unless invited, although they are required to do guard duty while church is taking place. Most gangs impose fines for non-attendance or for being late.

What gets discussed at church?
A wide range of matters affecting the club are discussed including problems, politics, other chapters, other gangs, future events, the clubhouse, what needs doing, rules and fundraising. Many gangs use whiteboards so that nothing illegal is discussed out loud.

What’s the difference between motorcycle gangs and ethnic gangs?
In most cases members of motorcycle gangs must own and regularly ride a motorbike. Many motorcycle gang members are genuine motorcycle enthusiasts and are fanatical about their bikes.

Motorcycle gangs are usually better organised and have more control over their members than ethnic gangs. Motorcycle gangs tend to be more regimented in everything they do. Ethnic gangs often have fewer rules about what drugs members are allowed to use.

Why do gangs call themselves “clubs”?
Most motorcycle gangs take exception to being called a “gang” (which they say relates to street gangs like the Black Power or Mongrel Mob). Motorcycle gangs prefer to use the name “club” instead. The term “club” is now commonly used throughout the gang world, including by many ethnic gangs. This is an attempt to get away from the negative connotations of the word “gang” and to downplay their criminality. (On this site, the words “gang” and “club” mean the same thing).

Is it illegal to be in a gang?
It isn’t illegal to be a member of a gang unless the gang is an organised crime group. The offence of Participating in an Organised Criminal Group is contained in Section 98A of the Crimes Act.

The ingredients are...

• Three or more people.
• Objective of either committing serious violence or making money from offences punishable by four or more years jail.
• Knowledge that the gang fits into the above criteria.
• Participation in the gang.
• Knowledge that their participation contributes to the gang’s criminal activity or is reckless to that effect.

Why do people leave a gang?
People leave gangs for a variety of reasons including...

• Changing priorities in life (growing-up, putting family first, getting too old etc).
• Internal gang politics and personalities.
• Breaching gang rules.
• Drug-related problems including drug addiction.
• Religion. Finding God.

What happens when you leave a gang?
Members leave in either “good standing” or in “bad standing”. Gang members who leave on good terms often maintain friendships with current members and continue to support the gang and attend its events. Some gangs, particularly ethnic gangs and street gangs, have a “blood in, blood out” rule where members are given a beating by the gang when they join and, again, when they leave. This used to be common practice but it is becoming less common. Once the attitude was “you come with nothing, you go with nothing” but many gangs now see that there is no advantage smashing over a “Brother” when he wants to leave the gang.

Members kicked out on bad terms usually receive a serious beating, when they are attacked by other gang members. Some disgraced gang members have been forced to leave their town or even made to leave New Zealand. In some cases gang members have been murdered by their own. Gang members normally have to pay some form of “leaving fee”. Members of motorcycle gangs usually forfeit their Harley and it’s common for other assets to be stolen as well. Some former members are repeatedly targeted and have many of their possessions taken. Members kicked out must have all their gang tattoos covered or risk the gang forcibly removing them.

What New Zealand or Australian gang books would you suggest reading?
Local books worth reading are...

• Brothers in Arms by Sandra Harvey and Lindsay Simpson.
• Girls in the Gang by Glennis Dennehy and Greg Newbold. (The appendix contains more than 30 pages on the history and development of New Zealand gangs).
• Milperra Massacre-through the eyes of Snake by Felicity Zeiher.
• Staunch by Bill Payne.
• The Brotherhoods by Arthur Veno.
• Trust by Pip Desmond.

How much contact do New Zealand gangs have with overseas gangs?
Most New Zealand motorbike gangs are in regular contact with overseas gangs via international travel or by telephone or the internet. These dealings usually relate to social, business or criminal activities. Gangs aren’t constrained by borders and wherever they see an opportunity they exploit it.

The Highway 61 M.C has chapters in Australia and members of regularly cross the Tasman to attend events such as bike shows or anniversary parties. The majority of Australian Highway 61 members are Kiwis. The Hells Angels have certain events (such as a “world run” or officers meetings) which must be attended by representatives of all chapters. Some New Zealand Angels are frequent flyers. All Hells Angel chapters must have e-mail and members regularly correspond with each other.

There are a few New Zealanders who are members of overseas gangs, including the Hells Angels in Australia and the UK, as well as the Highway 61, the Bandidos M.C and the Rebels M.C in Australia.

Are international gangs interested in New Zealand?
The Bandidos, Hells Angels and Outlaws have been expanding throughout the world and there’s no reason to think that they wouldn’t be interested in New Zealand. Several of our gangs have previously had discussions with major overseas bike gangs about joining.

The Hells Angels are the only big-three international motorcycle gang in New Zealand at present. Some of our gangs in rival networks to the Hells Angels have links to the Outlaws and Bandidos. Members of these gangs visit New Zealand from time to time. Our immigration laws are good and we can stop known gang members coming here, (unless they are New Zealand citizens). A few foreign gang members sneak through if they don’t get identified as gang members when crossing our borders.

The Rebels MC from Australia established chapters in New Zealand in January 2011.

If the Bandidos or Outlaws were to set up in New Zealand, how would they go about it?
There’s three ways they’d do it.

• Establish a new chapter from scratch.
• “Prospect” an existing New Zealand club (or clubs). The New Zealand gang would stop wearing their colours and become prospects for the new group, following their direction. They usually “prospect” for from one to three years before becoming patchmembers.
• “Patch-over” an existing club (or clubs). The New Zealand clubs instantly become patchmembers of the new group without any period spent prospecting.

If it did happen, “prospecting” or a “patch-over” would be more likely.

What would happen if the Bandidos or Outlaws started up here?
Given the long history of on-going conflict between these gangs throughout the world, violence would be likely between the Hells Angels and the new group and their respective allies. The conflict would be resolved only when the new group folds or when the Hells Angels accept their presence. The scale of the violence would depend on the circumstances at the time. The Bandidos or Outlaws would expect strong opposition from the Hells Angels and members would have this mindset from the start, therefore firearms and other weapons would be more likely that fists. People will get seriously hurt.

Will the Bandidos or Outlaws set up in New Zealand?
I don’t think they will set up here in the next five years, however things can happen very quickly in the gang world. The Hells Angels are a very influential club but they don’t dominate the New Zealand scene and they haven’t got things sewn up to the point that excludes others. Time will tell.