Posts
Police
officers in every part of New Zealand will continue to carry guns
25
March, 2019
Police
around the country will continue to carry guns for the foreseeable
future, while the National Threat Level remains at high.
All
frontline police officers in all regions - rural and urban - have
been instructed by Police Commissioner Mike Bush to carry guns while
on duty "until we are satisfied that the risk to the community
is reduced".
A
police spokesperson said they could not give a specific timeframe on
when that might be.
Police
are unlikely to rescind the order to carry guns until the National
Threat Level is lowered, which is a decision that lies with the
cross-agency Combined Threat Assessment Group (CTAG).
All
officers are carrying a Glock 17 pistol in their holsters, and have a
Bushmaster M4 semi-automatic rifle in each police car. Officers
tasked with protecting specific people and areas are carrying the
Bushmaster on patrol.
Under
normal circumstances, police in New Zealand carry pepper spray,
batons, and tasers, though all are trained with the Glock and
Bushmaster.
Police
Association President Chris Cahill said that arming police officers
meant the public could have more assurance knowing that police could
respond to situations immediately, and reduce the possibility of
copycat attacks.
In
a 2017 survey of frontline police officers, 73 per cent said they
would prefer to carry a firearm while on patrol.
Cahill
said that "in general" the police association supported
arming frontline officers.
"It's
certainly going to be a discussion. Things have changed in New
Zealand."
According
to statistics made public by police headquarters, firearms were
presented at police 17 times in 2017. In four of those incidents,
weapons were fired.
And
of those 17 situations, 14 resulted in prosecutions.
Cahill
said that the recent gun law changes, combined with more that could
come into effect down the line, could "create an environment
where there are less firearms and less risk to officers, and it may
not be needed, but it will depend on the other changes."
He
is calling for a gun register, "so we know who has them, what
they are, and where they are."
He
would also like to see more stringent security requirements.
"What
we know is most criminals get them [guns] from stealing them by
law-abiding gun owners," he said.
Firearms
license owners in New Zealand must have a secure gun rack, safe, or
"receptacle of stout construction," to store their weapons.
Frontline
police officers in Canterbury are becoming increasingly used to
carrying firearms - they were given a directive to carry guns while
on patrol for a few days from February 28 to March 3 while a
20-year-old man who was suspected of causing a shoot-out in
Christchurch was on the loose.
Spy agencies' 'hands tied behind their backs' - Simon Bridges
"Mosque attacks" - why do they not call things by their name - a massacre or slaying?
25
March, 2019
Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that there will be a Royal
Commission of Inquiry into security agencies following the
Christchurch terrorist attacks.
She
said, while New Zealanders and Muslim communities were still grieving
they were also rightly asking questions about how the terror attack
was able to take place.
The
inquiry will look at what could or should have been done to prevent
the attack, Ms Ardern said.
It
will probe into the accused individual and his activities before the
terrorist attack, including into agencies.
"It
will look at the actions of SIS, the GCSB, police, Customs,
Immigration and any other relevant government departments or
agencies," she said.
Ms
Ardern said the terms of reference had not yet been set, but these
would reflect the seriousness of the attack and the need to get
answers in a timely manner.
"There
will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was
concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any
reports that could or should have been alerted then to this attack.
"It's
important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how
this act of terrorism occurred."
Ms
Ardern said the commission would look at events leading up to the
attacks, rather than the immediate emergency response to the attacks,
which was work that would be done separately.
She
said the government needed to balance the timeliness of the inquiry
with the need to be thorough.
"We
want it to be independent, we want it to be at the highest level, but
we also want it to be timely ... I absolutely accept that people want
answers and they don't want to be waiting a long time, but we equally
have to allow the inquiry the time to do the job properly, so we're
weighing all that up," Ms Ardern said.
She
said Royal Commissions were usually reserved for the matters of
gravest public important and it was clearly the appropriate form of
inquiry for this instance.
Ms
Ardern also announced that she would travel to Beijing in China on
Sunday where she will meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li
Keqiang. She will also formally open the New Zealand embassy.
Ms
Ardern said it was an important visit that was planned some weeks ago
but given the terrorist attacks in Christchurch it has been cut back
to just one day of meetings. Ms Ardern said she would be back in New
Zealand by Tuesday.
"I
expect discussions will include a broad range of bilateral, regional
and international issues of common interest, including on upgrading
our free trade agreement, protecting and promoting a rules based
international trading system and combating climate change."
Michael
