Meth, guns and organised crime major issues, says Police Association

The Police Association is calling for government policy to support the general arming of officers. Photo / Warren Buckland​

There are fresh calls for all police officers to be armed as New Zealand faces a "second wave" of drug and organised crime with significant international ties, a new report claims.

The Police Association's views on police and law and order policies for the 2017 general election were released today in a nearly 30 page paper.

In the report, Police Association president Chris Cahill wrote there were several key areas which needed to be addressed by all political parties.

The proliferation of illegal firearms, an increase in assaults on police, and the "ever expanding methamphetamine industry" were major problems, he said.

To combat the issues, the association said it wanted government policy to support frontline officers carrying Tasers fulltime, and to support the general arming of police.

"Tasers are not sufficient to deal safely with the threat of a firearm - they simply do not have sufficient range, or a high enough rate of effectiveness, to confront every threat," the report said.

The calls for police to be armed fulltime come after yesterday's Independent Police Conduct Authority finding that the Waikato Armed Offenders Squad was justified in shooting an armed offender who pulled a gun on a police officer.

Police claim it was not unusual to find a firearm in a vehicle during routine traffic stops, during searches, drug operations and calls for service from the public, the report read.

"Take Wednesday, during a routine traffic stop in Onehunga," Cahill said in a statement. "As an officer spoke with the driver he saw the barrel of a pistol protruding on the floor by the driver's seat."

A cache of stolen firearms seized by police during a raid in Waikato. Photo / NZ Police

The report said "possibly the most concerning issue" facing police was the availability of firearms to criminal syndicates, which also "poses a grave risk to public safety".

"There are also regular reports of gang affiliates located in possession of firearms, ranging from handguns to military style semi-automatic rifles," the report said.

In April, a parliamentary law and order select committee released its findings from a nearly year-long inquiry.

At the time, Cahill said there was a "glaring omission" in the report around the importation of firearms.

In 2011, the association had welcomed the introduction of firearms in locked boxes to all frontline vehicles, but now said it was time officers were given greater discretion.

"Members regularly report risks associated with the locked box policy, including
inaccessibility to the firearms when needed because of the time required to retrieve them, and inaccessibility."

In cases of lethal force used by police, the report also called for the protection of an officer's identity as a "basic requirement of fairness".

"It is unfair to subject the officer and his or her family to public identification and trial
by media before the full facts and circumstances can be evaluated by professional investigators," it said.

Police are dealing with a "second wave" of meth, much of which is coming from China. Photo / File

In the report, Cahill added meth was fuelling the country's crime and was "tearing apart our communities".

The report claimed meth was now more readily available than cannabis in several New Zealand towns. It also named China as now a significant source for high quality and cheap drugs.

"The wealth generated by the methamphetamine trade is transforming New Zealand gangs," it said.

"New Zealand is currently in the midst of a second wave of methamphetamine - high quality manufactured meth from China - and it is cheap. The market for this meth is now supply driven rather than demand driven, pushing the price down."

The report said drug profits also increase a gangs' reach in the community.

"With this growth comes the very real risk of serious gang violence as rival gangs do whatever they consider necessary to maintain their existing 'markets', while also
increasing their spheres of influence.

"This threat of inter-gang violence is also heightened by the fact that a significant number of influential gang leaders, recently deported from Australia, are entering the game here."

As organised crime increased, more sophisticated money laundering techniques were being used, which now include professionals providing legal, accounting and commercial investment advice, the report said.

New anti-money laundering laws will be introduced in November, requiring banks and financial institutions to provide police with more detailed transaction information.

The association also raised concerns about the possibility of police corruption.

"New Zealand is not necessarily immune to the corruption that goes hand in hand with established organised crime," it said.

"In recent years there have been cases of attempted or actual infiltration of police, and/or corruption of individual police members by organised crime."

The association applauded the Government's increase in police numbers, but warned that by the time the 880 extra officers are all in place by 2021, New Zealand's population will have risen to the point where the population-to-police ratio is at today's levels.

Other issues highlighted in the report included the dangers of fleeing drivers and improving the criminal justice system, including extending out-of-court penalties to some traffic offences and identifying "blockages in the system".