Front line police should finally be wearing stab-resistant body armour by the end of the year.
Police were meant to have been issued the potentially life-saving equipment by now. However, there have been problems with the vests' fabric covering and Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope has travelled to Britain to try to sort out the issue with the manufacturer.
The vests - which former Police Commissioner Rob Robinson regarded as so vital that he threatened to resign last year if the Government did not fund their purchase - were meant to be issued by June this year.
However, problems with the vests' appearance - most recently over the colour of the fabric covering the armour - caused lengthy problems.
A police spokesman said that as a result of Mr Pope's meeting the colour had been approved and delivery of the armour should begin before the end of the year.
New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark said he was pleased to hear the vests were a step closer, but he would still ask questions about the lengthy delay.
"The people who are so often the meat in the sandwich are front line police officers. I don't want to hear that one of them has been stabbed between now and those vests finally getting here."
In Parliament yesterday Mr Mark showed MPs three gruesome photographs of knife wounds suffered by US police officers in the line of duty.
Police Minister Annette King said the photographs highlighted the urgent need for body armour.
"I hope they are available as soon as possible, and the delay, I am advised, was unavoidable. We need them as soon as possible, I don't like to see photographs like that."
Ms King said she did not know the details of the contract for the armour, and whether there was any possibility of compensation being sought for the delay.
"They [the police] have been desperate to get these vests," Ms King said. "I think the fact that the deputy commissioner is meeting with them [the manufacturers] shows that they are pretty serious about it."
Body armour finally on way for police
NZ First law and order spokesman Ron Mark displays gruesome pictures of US police officers' knife wounds in Parliament yesterday. Picture / Mark Mitchell
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