CHAPTER 15 ORGANIZED CRIME in NEW ZEALAND by Greg Newbold
285 CHAPTER 15 ORGANIZED CRIME IN NEW ZEALAND by Greg Newbold SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND The author wishes to acknowledge the kind assistance of the National Bureau of Criminal Intelligence of the New Zealand Police, and the staff of the Criminal Investigation Branch of the Christchurch police region, in the compilation of this report. 1. Introduction Although organized crime has no doubt been a feature of New Zealand society since the adoption of British sovereign law in 1840, recognition of such crime as a specific and ongoing problem is less than ten years old. In 1987, as a result of concern that certain Asian immigrants may have crimi- nal connections in their home countries, the coordinated gathering of intel- ligence about organized crime began. Three years later, a fulltime orga- nized criminal intelligence officer was established at Police National Head- quarters. In 1991, as an extension of this, the first dedicated Asian crime units were created. In Australia, where a National Crime Authority was set up to fight organized crime in 1984, relevant criminal activity has been statutorily de- fined as that which involves: two or more offenders, sophisticated methods, offences often committed in conjunction with other like offences, and which includes a variety of specified crimes such as fraud, illegal drug dealing, extortion, and violence (Broome, 1996). In New Zealand, the police definition of organized crime is somewhat similar and contains four essential elements: 286 ;MN' Iil: `'': 31 A T~ 3 ;; I. The criminal activity must be continuing. 2. The activity must involve profit. 3.
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