KEY POINTS:
Gun control researcher Philip Alpers has accused the police officer in charge of firearms licensing of bias over a series of emails questioning his credentials.
Inspector Joe Green has written to two universities where Mr Alpers has held posts, questioning the former TV journalist's roles.
Mr Green has also written to Mr Alpers warning him he could be charged if he continued to use the title Harvard fellow.
Mr Alpers says he finds Mr Green's actions an abuse of his position when he is supposed to be a neutral civil servant.
Mr Green says he was acting on information from a "third party" and is not biased against Mr Alpers.
Mr Alpers, a former Fair Go presenter, set up Gunsafe 14 years ago and has become an internationally recognised specialist and advocate on firearms laws.
In 2001, he was appointed to Harvard University, Boston, as a senior fellow and visiting scholar based at the Harvard Injury Control Research Centre.
In 2004, he moved to Sydney University where he is an adjunct associate professor in the school of public health.
New Zealand pro-gun lobbyists and the United States-based National Rifle Association wrote to Harvard questioning Mr Alpers' credentials.
Mr Green made what he calls "persistent inquiries" of Harvard in 2003, seeking to clarify Mr Alpers' position.
In an email which began "The world continues to spin!", Mr Green wrote to Mr Alpers on September 9, 2003, saying he could be prosecuted if he continued to "inflate" the position "visiting scholar" by using the title "fellow".
The professor leading the research centre, David Hemenway, wrote to Mr Green on September 25, 2003, telling him Mr Alpers was entitled to use either or both titles and was a "deserving and valued" Harvard member.
Mr Green wrote to Sydney University in 2004 making a "general inquiry" about Mr Alpers' title. Professor Simon Chapman said Mr Alpers was an honorary associate pending a decision on a full title, which has since been awarded.
Despite the letter from Professor Hemenway, Mr Green told the Weekend Herald he remained "unconvinced" Mr Alpers was entitled to call himself a Harvard fellow.
Professor Hemenway's letter to Mr Alpers, obtained by the Weekend Herald, clearly states Mr Alpers held the position of senior fellow.
Mr Green said he was not biased against Mr Alpers.
Mr Alpers said Mr Green's actions were not becoming of a neutral civil servant. "There's a part of me that sees this as a reprehensible abuse of a police officer's position, and all of it on NZ Police letterhead," he said.
A spokesman for Police Commissioner Howard Broad said the time spent by Mr Green on this matter would have been negligible in relation to his regular police work.
