ATTACK SPARKS NEW GUN DEBATE

The latest attack on police has refuelled the debate over arming officers, with the police association saying Constable Perry Griffin would not have been attacked had his gun been his ‘‘primary weapon’’.

Griffin carried a pistol which was knocked from his belt as he was attacked in Kawhia before being saved by local volunteer firefighters.

His acting district commander, Inspector Rob Lindsay, said ‘‘fortunately for all concerned a member of the public recovered the officer’s pistol and took it to the firefighters who secured the weapon.’’

Police association vice-president Stuart Mills was adamant the incident proves the case for routinely arming police. Griffin used pepper spray, then his Taser, but had not pulled his gun, even though he took it from his car because he believed the situation was threatening.

‘‘If a firearm was the primary weapon then the situation would probably have been different. The offender would have known that the police officer was armed and treated the situation differently,’’ Mills said.

‘‘There are far too many officers who have been injured over the last few weeks, in the Christmas/New Year period. If police officers were armed it would change the situation of the safety of police officers, and also members of the public would be aware of the consequences of dealing with armed police officers.

‘‘Policing is a dangerous occupation, let alone a sole policing role in a community like Kawhia.’’

The police association supports the general arming of the police force and this is the view of its membership, Mills said.

Lindsay said Griffin ‘‘never got to the stage where there was the intention to pull out the pistol, although it was a tactical option that was there’’.

Although New Zealand police do not carry guns at all times, the weapons are available in situations where the threat is assessed as requiring a firearm. The incident in Kawhia was considered one of those occasions, so Griffin took a gun from his patrol car with him.

‘‘He had discussed with his supervisor the need to have all his tactical options on him,’’ Lindsay said.

‘‘The police commissioner has made it quite clear that the police stance is that we are not a fully armed police force. However, officers have weapons at their disposal at a very short time period.

‘‘We are not an armed force. As a matter of course we don’t wear them, but if you feel threatened there are a number of situations where you can wear them, and that is a stance supported by a number of police.’’

When a Dargaville officer was beaten unconscious and had his Taser taken from him in December, the police association called for more discussion on arming police.

Justice Minister Judith Collins reacted to that incident warily. ‘‘In Dargaville . . . if that was a gun [not a Taser] we’d probably be going to a funeral, actually, for a police officer.’’