An Armed Offenders Squad during a callout in Christchurch. But Police Minister Chris Hipkins denies New Zealand has reached the point of American-style militarised policing, despite the country clocking more than 1000 armed offenders squads (AOS) deployments this year alone. Figures obtained by National police spokesman Mark Mitchell via written parliamentary questions show a 64 per cent overall increase in AOS callouts from 2017, when there were 1034 nationally, to 1694 last year. This year alone, there have been 1004 in the year to July, meaning 2022 is on track to be another record year for AOS callouts at the current rate. Officers from an Armed Offenders Squad in Christchurch earlier this year.

Source: New Zealand Herald October 01, 2022 01:12 UTC