Firearms crime prompts teamwork

IT’S not often you’ll catch police and gang members sitting side by side and working on group activities.

But a spike in gun crime in south Auckland has brought the community together with shared concerns.

On Friday night about 100 people from the Ma¯ ngere community gathered to ponder some answers.

In recent weeks a Ma¯ ngere barbershop was shot up and firebombed, and a Manukau bar was also fired at in the middle of the night.

In May, Alec Moala was shot

dead at an Ota¯ ¯ huhu home. And just on Thursday a Clendon Park home was fired at in a drive-by shooting while a family huddled inside.

Joe, the organiser of the event, said enough was enough. A former gang member, he didn’t want his full name used and doesn’t like being the centre of attention, but said something had to be done.

So over three days he and a team of dedicated community members booked a hall and sent out the word.

On the night, a cross-section of the South Auckland community showed up. They shared their concerns and then tackled the tough part of looking for solutions. They worked in groups to come up with ideas and shared them later in the evening.

The problem isn’t going to be fixed in one meeting, Joe said, ‘‘but you have to start somewhere’’.