A group of dairy owners delivered a "crime reduction manifesto" to Parliament this afternoon, signed by 34,000 people.
Among them was Kalidas Patel, father of Janak Patel, who died in an alleged burglary in Auckland's Sandringham last November.
Three men have been charged with Janak Patel's murder.
Among the petition-bearers was Kalidas Patel, father of Janak Patel, who died in an alleged burglary last year. (Source: 1News)
The petition was prepared by the Dairy and Business Owners Group, and it contained a number of key demands.
The first called for reform in laws of self-defence and the defence of property.
"Our confusing laws are so watered down they favour the offender against the law abiding," the document read.
"The current law is inadequate as it does not allow the defence of property and has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese."
The group also also called for citizen's arrest powers to be extended.
"This power needs to apply 24/7 for all Crimes Act offences," the document said.
"This is about providing consequences and empowering responsible persons... A vigilante charter it is not."
The other major demand in the "manifesto" was for parents to have criminal liability for their children.
"It is clear some parents don't care where their children are, or what they get up to," the group said.
'Vigilante justice' - expert
Legal commentator Chris Gallavin had a mixed view of the group's demands.
Asked about the laws around defence of property, he said: "I do think it's time for us to be able to have a look at that and see if it can be strengthened for the benefit of retailers."
But, he believes giving more power to make citizens arrests is potentially dangerous.
"It could very easily resort to, or result in, vigilante justice," he said.
And making parents criminally liable for their children would be hard to enforce and may not work anyway, Gallavin argued.
"In a sense the battle is lost," he said. "If the children are that wild by that age, then it's likely the parent isn't going to change."
The full list of demands
The document presented to Parliament today contained nine sections. They were:
- "Reform the laws of self-defence and the defence of property based on the Australian Criminal Code."
- "Extend Citizen’s Arrest powers to all Crimes Act offences 24/7 and to property crimes within the Summary Offences Act."
- "We need MSD, Justice and Corrections aligned to deal with problem families and their children with parents having criminal liability for their children."
- "Crimes need real consequences and that is prison for adults and custodial reeducation and training for kids."
- "Get the beggars and homelessness off the streets and into the care they need."
- "Visible law enforcement on the streets."
- "Deploy Artificial Intelligence based street lighting and CCTV in partnership with councils."
- "Laws to end smoking will supercharge gang revenue like nothing we have seen in history."
- "Enlarging theCrime Fund to $40m, targeting 10,000 retailers."
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