Angus Benson also known as Angus Ratima and 'Heil Dogg'. Photo: Facebook / Supplied
In the lead-up to a large gang tangi, Hawke's Bay police have been engaging with locals, gang leaders and whānau of the deceased.
Angus Benson, formerly the president of Napier's Mongrel Mob Barbarian chapter, will be farewelled on Friday and Saturday.
Roadblocks were already in place in the suburb of Maraenui, and police - bolstered by extra staff brought into the region specifically - have been breath testing drivers entering the suburb. They said they would allow law-abiding mourners to grieve respectfully while maintaining public trust and confidence.
Benson was also known as Angus Ratima and 'Heil Dogg', and the tangi was expected to be quite large.
"We're looking in the hundreds at this stage," Inspector Lincoln Sycamore told Morning Report on Friday morning.
"Obviously, things are a wee bit fluid in terms of how many people will come into town. But that's not to say that that's just gang members. We know that Benson was an active community member involved heavily with the Napier Tech rugby club and also a number of other community groups, so there'll be a mixture of people coming to town to see Benson off."
Sycamore said the main event - including a vehicle procession - was expected between 1pm and 3pm on Saturday.
"Our purpose tomorrow will be to ensure that the mourners move to Wharerangi (cemetery). We understand that the organisers are applying for a traffic management plan, which would be extremely helpful in terms of the flow of traffic.
"Our purpose will be to ensure there's no breaches of any sort of act. We'll have a presence along the way of the route. And if there's no need for us to intervene, we won't. Should anything arise, we'll have the capability to take some sort of action."
Police were criticised for their heavy presence outside a cemetery in the small Bay of Plenty community of Matapihi during a Mongrel Mob tangi in November.
"There is a balancing act in the sense of allowing legitimate road users, for example, to go about their business and allowing mourners to undertake their grieving," Sycamore said.
"We really respect the family and want them to have a smooth process as they move through that grieving process… Our purpose again is to maintain visibility, allow legitimate road users to undertake go about their business and also deal with anything that may arise."
The tangi comes not quite a month after a new law was introduced banning gang members from wearing patches and gang insignia in public.
Sycamore said police would intervene if it was safe to do so, else collect evidence to follow up at a later date.
"Whatever the case may be, we trust our people to make decisions. We have the capability and our people make good decisions around what's in front of them, so we ask them to take whatever action they think is necessary at the time."
Police said Benson's death was not being treated as suspicious and had been referred to the coroner.
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