Photo: RNZ / Dom ThomasDozens and sometimes hundreds of frontline police officers have been told to carry guns on average once a week in recent months, as fears around gun violence escalate. The vast majority of the arming orders were in response to gun crime. The police documents show that in one instance last year Rotorua officers were authorised to carry guns for nine hours after they found a car with bullet holes in it on a suburban street. A former police officer of 20 years, Lance Burdett, said on the face of it, these arming orders appeared justified. Sawicki-Mead hoped these arming orders did not creep further into police practise and become more common.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 16, 2021 03:22 UTC