NZ police armed?

NZ police armed?

I expect this to be a fairly topical debate over the coming weeks and months.

Give them fresh fruit.

But everybody knows to shoot him,then peel the banana,thus disarming him.

Nets like Spiderman.

Hammer Head2010-10-13 13:45:02

Dolphin-related crime would decrease markedly though

Arm them with swords. That'd be badass.

Shoot to kill and then if they are still double parked, at least you've slowed them up a bit.

Shoot people that wear crocs in town, or ugg boots

They should all get submachine guns. After all they're less dangerous than tasers according to some...

guns all the way, the crims have easy access to them and use them whenever they want, our boys in blue should be able to shoot back....not just waive sticks and yell threats

grenade-launchers

 perfect!

That would be epic.

Police ten-7s ratings would...skyrocket!

We would also no longer have a police shortage as recruit numbers would increase dramatically

We need robocops

Cops walking around like rambo with a god complex.. no thanks. But a firearm close by if the sh*t hits the fan. Yes please.

But failing that, just train the police as ninjas. Or just hire Chuck Norris. And the A-Team.

I originally voted the third option but on further thought I'd prefer the fourth. While not all cops are perfect, or even good people, they're trained professionals with their firearms. Only argument against them carrying guns openly that I could sympathize with is the miniscule risk of it being stolen from them.

Give them guns.

Why guns when you can have hoses.

I see firearms being more effective at difusing dangerous situations. At the moment I think of like this.
If a man has taken a woman hostage in the middle of the street with a machette. When police arrive the threat of the situation escalading is higher.
If police arrived with their OC Spray, Batons or Tasers I don't see the situation being resolved as qucikly as the offender may not see any real risk to himself.
If he was presented with a firearm I think he would see that he is risking his own life as well as the womans. And offenders are always likely to put themselves first.

Then again. If Police were armed. Offender may see the need to arm himself..

When I worked for the Police, the general concensus around the office was that officers should be armed. As more of a way to make sure they feel safe in any environment they enter. Especially with the rate of Assaults and serious attacks on front line officers.

The Napier seige could have been avoided if Police were armed in my opinion.
Having a firearm in a lock box would not have helped the officers in that situation as they only made it to the front of the house.

In my experience, the major problem the Police would have is things like accidental discharges or a lack of knowledge, experience or a properly maintained fiream. I know of a few cases where AOS have hurt themselves more then the offender. And sometimes training.

Yeah and the whales.

Blimmin' Cetaceans, acting like they own the seas ("ooh look at me, I'm top of the food chain").

Police officers having a handgun on their person while on duty should be a given really, NZ is too fluffy in this respect.

Anything bigger and more powerful should be the domain of AOS.

guns=bad

20 years jail for anyone caught with any gun
get rid of the lot of them
hunters or recreational types can take one for the team in there crusade 'to get tough on crime'
or other peoples crime at least.

as you were,
raving hippie

I'd be inclined to favour cops having a firearm.  You'd expect them to have the adequate training, of course, but they certainly should have the capacity to cap the bad guys without having to waddle off to their vehicle to grab a gun and then go back.

Yes, I still call offenders 'bad guys'.

So only Crims have guns?

I prefer the police to have guns than tasers because tasers are more lethal according to Keith Locke.

The bad guys already carry around their guns so why shouldn't the Police be armed. Sadly our society today does not have the values of a generation or so ago. these days, they dont care, they want to be like their Gangsta rap idols. So yes, the Police should be armed. it isn't just about protecting themselves, it's about protecting the general populous as well.

^ kinda agree, but let's not pretend all cops are the good guys.

I assume when you say the general public you're including the bad guys in that? Its a bit unfair to put us in the same category dontcha think?

Not all cops are good guys, of course not, but in NZ I like to think that the majority would be good blokes.  Some issues could arise with armed cops who aren't good but I think overall the positives would outweigh the negatives.  Shouldn't leave the majority good cops exposed to armed offenders based on a few cops possibly in future abusing their power with a firearm.

Cosimo2010-10-14 16:53:03

YES.

Are you a cop Hammer Head?