Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is confident a new multi-million-dollar investment in training and tactical teams will ensure our officers are better protected on the frontline - without resorting to firearms.
On Wednesday, a $45 million package was announced to fund the Tactical Response Model, an initiative that will double an officer's tactical response training from 3.5 to 7.5 days per year. The model will also train 2000 more officers in frontline skills, double-crew tactical dog teams, develop intelligence analysis and add an additional 200 staff specially trained to an Armed Offenders Squad standard. The officers will focus on high-risk offenders, firearms, methamphetamine, and organised crime groups.
The raft of changes are being rolled out in response to rising gun crime in Aotearoa. Compared to the two years' previous, there has been a 32 percent rise in gun crime in Auckland City over the past 18 months - and a 49 percent increase in gun-related injuries.
However, Commissioner Coster says scaling up firearms units and firearms training does not mean officers will be routinely armed.
Speaking to The AM Show on Thursday morning, Coster reiterated the training will not go hand-in-hand with access to firearms on the frontline - despite a survey in August finding nearly 75 percent of the police want to be routinely armed. But Coster says the jury is out as to whether arming officers actually increases their safety.
"We've looked very carefully at the routine arming issue - it's really natural to imagine that when you're on the wrong end of a firearm, to want to be armed yourself. The evidence we have seen tells us that it's inconclusive as to whether it would make our people safer, and it would almost certainly lead to more deaths," he said.
Instead, the Tactical Response Model will work to prepare officers for a raft of challenging situations.
"The training isn't actually just focused on how to use guns. It's how to approach situations safely, so we're doubling frontline training and it will be based on our Frontline Skills Enhancement Course, much more scenario-based, equipping people for the kinds of situations they will face. Our officers are saying that when they've done that, they're feeling much more safer about how they go about their jobs," Coster said.
He says he is "absolutely confident" the new model will reduce the number of incidents where officers are harmed in the line of duty.
"We know from the people that have done these courses… They are reporting examples where they have approached situations differently in order to keep themselves safe."
The funding will also be used to further develop the systems used to provide officers with real-time information when responding to a crime, allowing them to better gauge the risk and tailor their approach.
Following the announcement on Wednesday, Police Association president Chris Cahill said the plan "falls short of the overwhelming call from our members for general arming" - but he's willing to see how it goes.
"We are prepared to give this tactical response model an opportunity to deliver what our members so clearly need to police safely without the need for general arming.
"It's a big ask, but all indications are that police and the Government are serious about a viable alternative between the status quo and an armed police service."
In response to the calls for firearms on the frontline, Coster said if he felt guns would make a difference to people's safety, he would also be an advocate.
"All of us on executive have come through frontline policing - I've been an Armed Offenders Squad member, an Armed Offenders Squad commander - if I thought being routinely armed would make our people and our community safer, I would be advocating for it, but I'm very clearly of the view that it will not.
"I understand the perspectives of those frontline officers who understandably feel scared, but the reception of this model by the frontline has been very positive, and I'm confident it will make a big difference."
He says how officers feel going about their jobs will be a good gauge of the investment's success.
"A lot of this sits in the confidence our people feel going about their jobs - they are equipped to deal with the most difficult situations well. As we roll this training out, a doubling of what we're doing today, I would expect our people to feel better-equipped for what they're dealing with and that over time, we will see a reduction in some of the assaults and some of the most negative impacts for our officers."
However, some have expressed concern that the additional training and tactical teams are merely steps towards a fully armed force.
During the announcement on Wednesday, Coster and Police Minister Poto Williams were quick to deny that the new Tactical Response Teams would be the same as the controversial Armed Response Teams (ARTs), which were trialled and scrapped last year.
"These staff won't be doing routine patrolling or routine policing duties like we saw with Armed Response Teams," Coster said.
"I want to be clear - the new Tactical Response Model is not Armed Response Teams," Williams added.
"These officers will wear standard police uniforms, drive standard police vehicles, and will not be armed in their day-to-day duties. They will support frontline investigation and prevention teams and will focus on high-risk offenders, firearms, methamphetamine, and organised crime groups."
Chester Borrows, ex-police and former chair of the Government's Safe and Effective Justice working group, said the new model was less inflammatory than the Armed Response Teams approach.
"It looks far more strategic and technical than the blunt force of just ARTs driving around in big vehicles wanting to bring on what appeared to be some pretty strong and lethal force," Borrows told RNZ.
However, University of Waikato senior lecturer of criminology, Dr Juan Tauri, is unconvinced, telling RNZ the new model does not differ greatly from ARTs.
"What's it justified by? Do have we had significant increase for example in the murder rate and murder related to, for example, the use of firearms? No, not significantly in the last 20-30 years.
"Have firearm related offences increased in some areas, yeah, but to the extent that justifies that spend, I think that's questionable."
Dr Tauri also expressed concern that increased police firepower would disproportionately affect Māori.
"Whether it's a good thing or not, well, being a Māori academic and the research that I do, I was always concerned about their increase and in their powers and increase in their ability to inflict violence against people because we know that it's overwhelmingly used against us."
