Police report more than 60 incidents involving firearms in one month

A police vehicle was sprayed with bullets during a shoot-out with a fugitive this month in Morrinsville.

Nearly 40 per cent of police have been threatened with a gun - and in one month alone officers reported two incidents each day on average, new figures reveal.

The numbers of reported incidents, which included searches for firearms, were released by police in response to an Official Information Act request.

The data is broken down by the year's week number and the police district, between February 1 and February 28 2017.

Week six records the highest number of victimisations involving firearms - 22 incidents.

In that week, 13 of those incidents were reported in the Bay of Plenty.

Waikato followed the Bay of Plenty with the second highest recorded incidences, eight.

The Southern police district had the lowest reports of firearm incidents, with one in the month of February.

This week the Police Association urged the public and politicians to "wake up to the consequences of the proliferation of illegal firearms throughout the country".

Association president Chris Cahill said it required "remarkable bravery" to put on the police uniform and go to work every day knowing you may be staring down the barrel of a gun.

"That should be widely considered as unacceptable in a country like New Zealand, and yet, unfortunately we are now regularly reminded that it appears relatively easy to access all sorts of weapons."

A member survey conducted by the association revealed a 38 per cent increase in the number of police officers threatened with a firearm in the last two years.

"One in eight (12 per cent) of the constabulary has been threatened with a firearm at least once in the last year."

For frontline officers the figure grew to 21 per cent, one in five, being threatened at least once in the last year.

"What makes this even more concerning is that the survey shows one in three members (36 per cent) who have been threatened with firearms in the past year have not reported every incident."

The association received "almost daily" reports of firearms presented or found.