Police officers confronting armed offenders and other dangerous situations will hopefully be better resourced and trained to de-escalate and prevent loss of life following the nationwide launch of a new police tactics model worth about $200 million.
The model, prompted by the shooting of Constable Matthew Hunt during a vehicle stop in Auckland in 2020, enhances the tactical capability of officers through training, with a strong focus on tactical communication that can calm an offender and reduce the likelihood of incidents escalating toward violence.
Police have been testing the model since November 2021 in the Northland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, and Central police districts and it will now be rolled out nationwide, adding almost 250 police staff to facilitate the shift.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster welcomed the model, saying it would better equip his officers for the “increasingly volatile” environment police were currently facing.
“We’ve seen a greater willingness to use firearms against police, we’ve seen a greater range of incidents where firearms have been used by police and that is something we need our people to be equipped for.”
Coster fronted a demonstration of the new model, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Police Minister Ginny Andersen.
In the past, tactical priorities centred around how to use items like handcuffs and Tasers, while the new model emphasised the importance of negotiation skills.
The demonstration, conducted in Trentham, north of Wellington, involved two officers armed with Tasers negotiating with an ‘offender’ who had hit his partner and was threatening self-harm while refusing to exit his locked home.
As per the model, the officers largely spoke in a non-threatening fashion and one used the fact he too was a father to build a rapport with the offender until he surrendered.
Coster said the new model represented a “real stepchange” to police training.
“It’s much needed and I’m delighted that we’ve got it and I think it does position us now to cope with an environment that’s increasingly volatile.”
Officers would be given four additional days of training on top of the 3.5 days they currently received.
When attending vehicle stops, which Coster described as “one of the riskiest things we do”, officers would be encouraged to call in more support and dog handlers would be further resourced by a tactical operator that was a member of the Armed Offenders Squad.
Andersen said in a statement the model had been developed in consultation with Māori, Pacific and ethnic community leaders.
“It’s critical to give front-line Police a higher level of protection without changing New Zealand’s community policing approach – which we strongly believe is effective and appropriate for our country,” she said.
“Policing the public will see under the new model will be the same as what they see now, but those causing the most harm in our communities will feel the difference because Police will have an increasingly comprehensive suite of tools to work with.”