Earlier this year Auckland University Press told me they were printing another run of Patched. The books have now arrived. While the size of the market means it will never shower me in riches, I couldn't be more pleased that Patched is still being bought. It makes the hard work of writing it feel worthwhile. Thanks so much.

Of course, it's also being stolen. Since its release, Patched has been heralded as the most stolen book in New Zealand. While it was a finalist for best nonfiction book and won People's Choice at the New Zealand book awards, I have never won any award whatsoever for it being the most flogged. Still, I'd like to acknowledge all those crooks who have such terrific taste in reading material.

​Here's an excerpt from chapter three describing the rise of the Mongrel Mob. I hope you enjoy it; but the story on page 41 may not be great for those with a delicate stomach. (I note the excerpt isn't visible on some phones - sorry about that).
If the viewer below doesn't work, you can download a PDF of the excerpt here.

​And if you want to buy it pop down to a bookstore or here's an online option, but you can also borrow it from your local library, of course.

The latest gang statistics the government is using to justify possible changes to firearms legislation make me feel uneasy. When it was put to Police Minister Judith Collins by Felix Marwick of ZB that I suspected the numbers may not be accurate, she replied she’d rather trust the police than a gang associate.
 
Leaving aside the unnecessary snip seemingly aimed at me, her faith may be misguided. The last time I felt uneasy about gang numbers the government was using, they turned out to be ludicrously wrong. She may want to ask her predecessor Anne Tolley about that.
 
Tolley claimed that 4,000 gang members were responsible for 34 percent of A and B class drug offences and 25 percent of homicide related offences over a three-month period. It turned out the numbers were actually four percent and zero percent respectively. The incorrect data were used as a basis for the much-touted ‘Gang Intelligence Centre’.
 
Now they are saying 44 percent of those 4,000 gang members have firearms related charges. Just instinctively this seems off the mark and given their history of wildly inaccurate data, I think we have a right to test if they are correct or not.
 
So, people in the media and opposition, please ask the Minister to provide the methodology of these firearms figures to test their veracity and to see if they accurately reflect reality.
 
If I were a betting man, I’d put a wager on them being misleading – but I’ll be happy to be proven wrong; after all it will be nice to regain some confidence in police data.