Minister opposed to arming police

AUCKLAND: A recent run of gunrelated incidents has reignited a debate about whether the time has come for police to carry guns.

In two incidents last week, a woman was carjacked at gunpoint by a man in Auckland before he was shot by police, just hours after another man was shot and killed by police in relation to a firearms matter in Hamilton.

Both occurred as the trial of Eli Epiha progresses in Auckland's High Court.

The 25yearold, who has already pleaded guilty to the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt, is accused of attempting to murder Constable David Goldfinch during a routine traffic stop on June 19 last year.

Yesterday morning, Police Minister Poto Williams sparked the debate by saying she did not support general arming of police.

While she supported officers being armed when necessary, she thought it should not extend to permanent arming or the controversial armed response teams (ARTs), which were trialled in 2019.

Ms Williams said her stance was based on feedback she had received from Maori, Pasifika and South Auckland communities who she claimed were against general arming.

Those comments triggered a wave of reaction from the wider public on both the arming of police — and the reason why she was against it.

A former South Auckland officer, who asked to remain anonymous, believed it was only a matter of time before all police were armed.

“The job has become more exponentially dangerous in the last five years,” he said.

“The arming of police fulltime is now inevitable and it’s a shame that innocent lives like [police officers] and, heaven forbid, the public will be lost until the PC brigade accept that it is now necessary.”

Police Association president Chris Cahill said his members were not happy with Ms Williams’ comments.

“Many point out the fact that under the Policing Act, this is an operational decision, not a decision for the minister.”

Mr Cahill supported the reinstatement of ARTs, which faced public outcry over an alleged lack of community consultation, particularly from Maori.

National Party leader Judith Collins, who called for Ms Williams’ resignation over yesterday’s comments, said she approved of using ARTs but did not expect all police to be armed.

Two South Auckland community leaders were divided on the issue. Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina, who worked for the police for almost 40 years, said he had been strongly against arming officers but in light of recent events, the former Mangere community constable now believed guns should be more easily accessible to police.

Fellow Manukau councillor Fa’anana Efeso Collins was satisfied his community was largely safe from guns and arming police was not necessary.

Ms Collins said it was more important to address the lack of trust whanau had for police through community engagement. —