Possible Rewrites: 1. New Zealand Considers Mandatory Makeup for Gang Members to Conceal Tattoos 2. Proposal in New Zealand Weighs Makeup Requirement for Gang Members to Hide Tattoos 3. Mandatory Makeup for Gang Members: New Zealand Ponders Concealing Tattoos with Cosmetics 4. New Zealand Contemplates Imposing Makeup on Gang Members to Cover Up Tattoos 5. Discussion in New Zealand on Compelling Gang Members to Wear Makeup for Concealing Tattoos

New Zealand’s gangsters will need to apply foundation when they wake up in the morning to hide their tattoos or face arrest if the incoming government’s strategy to quash gang activity goes ahead.

The National Party’s police spokesperson, Mark Mitchell, expected to be the next police minister, emphasised the need for practical measures to address gang tensions and violence in the country.

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Mongrel Mob is New Zealand’s largest gang.

“The police need to have proactive tools that they can get out there and they can stop and turn over gang members, and search them and search their vehicles and take firearms—not wait for a 20-year-old female to be shot in a drive-by shooting or for someone’s home to be shot up by gangs and drive-by shootings,” he said.

If the party’s proposed ban on gang patches, such as large insignia sewn onto jackets, doesn’t work, Mr. Mitchell said new legislation may be passed to ban facial tattoos.

“So if the gangs think that they’re going to get around a ban on gang patches by having swastikas and offensive tattoos on their faces, then we’ll take action to curb that,” he said.

They would also ban gang activity on social media and stop gang members from talking to each other.

‘None Has Stemmed the Tide’

Legal experts have noted that dealing with gang activity in New Zealand has become highly politicised.

Despite the plethora of legislation and criminal law that is constantly evolving, including those governing fortified houses and the prohibition of gang patches, none has stemmed the tide, the professors say.