It follows a Mongrel Mob member being charged for displaying a gang sign on the dashboard of his shortly after midnight.

That is despite two papers from police that raised the matter with him.

Police will not hesitate to confiscate motorcycles under the new gang patch legislation, the assistant commissioner says.

A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later. The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on the dashboard of his car and was among more than a dozen people arrested or summoned to appear in court for exhibiting such symbols since the law took force, New Zealand’s police said Friday. The prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside private homes, including on clothing or in vehicles, is among a suite of new measures intended to bolster police powers to disrupt the groups.

The first arrest was made just three minutes after midnight, with 11 more to come.