Public support for policing gangs: normative, instrumental, and affective predictors of police empowerment in Aotearoa New Zealand

In many jurisdictions, police are periodically granted new powers intended to reduce crime and enhance community safety, raising questions about the conditions under which the public supports expanded police authority. The Gangs Act 2024 granted the New Zealand Police new powers to restrict gang activity, including the authority to arrest individuals for displaying gang insignia in public and to disperse gang gatherings in public spaces. Drawing on survey data from a non-representative sample of 766 adult residents of Aotearoa New Zealand, we examine normative (procedural justice and legitimacy), instrumental (police effectiveness and fear of crime), and affective predictors of public support for these powers. Affective responses (feeling safer at the prospect of the new powers) were the strongest predictor of support, and accounted for much of the association between the other predictors and support. Procedural justice was associated with support directly and indirectly, mainly via affective responses. Right-wing political orientation and fear of crime were associated with higher support, and interpersonal contact with gang-affiliated individuals predicted lower support. Police effectiveness was positively correlated with support but negatively associated with it once fairness was accounted for. This study extends the police empowerment literature to the context of powers targeted at a specific, socially stigmatised group. Our findings suggest that support for such powers is more closely tied to how they make people feel than to judgements about police effectiveness, and that those with personal contact with gang-affiliated individuals are less supportive, raising questions about public opinion as a basis for justifying targeted police powers.