In March of this year, the New Zealand Government passed new laws and provided its police force with more tools to crack down on gang offending.

The new legislation was passed to improve public safety and it is called the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill.

The need for this law came into place because of the influence gangs in New Zealand have on the crime rate. The gang situation is somewhat going out of hand in New Zealand as it is not only drugs but illegal firearms, drive-by shootings, increase in robberies and overall people are not feeling safe anymore.

In Samoa we are lucky that we do not have to deal with such crimes now but if according to the Police Commissioner Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo there are indeed attempts to set up gang chapters in Samoa, then we are headed into troubled waters.

Behind all of this, is the ugliness posed by the narcotic methamphetamine (meth) which in recent times has increased and with that we are also seeing seizures of illegal firearms.

“This is the report we have received and we are dealing with this at a transnational level with all our major partners,” Auapa'au said. “We have to be on the lookout for the gang members and we hope that we are able to keep them out of Samoa.”

Samoa Police have also come to realise that the local setting is somewhat organised and possibly involves government officials.

This should have alarm bells ringing from the highest level to the grassroots. Prevention and intervention are the only way out of this situation.

If gangs are allowed to form in Samoa, then crime will spiral out of control. We already have issues with illegal firearms and this could escalate into bigger problems. The streets will no longer be safe.

We in Samoa pride ourselves as being friendly and open. We see our streets as safe places where our children can walk freely even at night. Just take a look at New Zealand suburbs. Media in New Zealand are now rife with reports of gang shootings, gang based robberies, increase in drug cases and other crimes.

Surely we do not want the same for Samoa. What we need to do is to be taking those steps now if we are to keep Samoa the way it is. We do have our law and order issues but it is not out of control.

Meth is becoming a real issue for Samoa. We are seeing more and more people using it. The lucrative trade of meth is surely the reason why gangs would be looking to come to Samoa. The Samoa Police should be given all the help they need to fight this drug.

A stronger focus on prevention and early intervention will slow the flow of young people into gangs and alleviate pressure on multiple systems like justice, health and corrections in the long term. Beyond targeted programmes, prevention can include poverty reduction, opportunities provision, access to healthcare, access to education and employment opportunities.

All of these are factors which could easily facilitate formations of gangs. The Police have mentioned another worry which is the use of unemployed youth who act as ‘runners’ for the people supplying the drugs.

With education not being affordable by all Samoans we are slowly witnessing the formation of youth gangs with the child street vendors who are already involved in robbing people and burglaries. There is already a conducive environment for the formation of a gang chapter here.

The Government has to make education accessible and affordable so all Samoan children are able to get better employment and have better social welfare schemes so families do not have to force their children to leave school and become street vendors.

We already know that income earned from street vending is not that much, there are more chances of these youths becoming part of gangs because of their economic situation.

From the Government level, the focus should be on strengthening border control and border security. There should also be added funding and manpower for the Samoa Police. Village councils and churches in Samoa have a role to play as well.

Because these two bodies in the Samoan society deal directly with families and youth, they can play an influential role in preventing gangs from forming by involving youth into constructive work.

Crime is more likely when conditions make control of public behaviour more difficult. Conditions include poverty, weak social networks, residential mobility, and ethnic heterogeneity. Social disorganisation generally exists in areas of economic instability, leading to a breakdown in families and schooling. In these areas, gang involvement and activity can be more prevalent.

Government should be looking at changing laws which would not allow gangs to be set up and at the same time ensure better protection of borders. Samoa also has to seriously deal with the breakdown in families and schooling.

We do not need gangs in Samoa.