Police News August 09.indd - New Zealand Police Association

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceAfter admitting that the fatal shooting ofConstable Snee and the serious wounding ofConstables Diver and Miller was “our worstfear” he went on to say: “Should we makedecisions based on our worst fears? If therewas a slim chance our officers could returnfire, would that make us a better or saferpolice?"It’s an interesting question.The answer, though Commissioner Broadmay have an understandable level ofdiscomfort with it – may be “Yes”. It is not somuch reacting to fear that is at the heart ofthe issue, rather it is reacting to an increaseddanger and level of violence on the frontline,which the Police’s own statistics bear out.Coincidentally, among the first respondersin the Napier siege were Youth Aid workerson day shift. Many Youth Aid workers areexempted from firearms training as Policeseek to reduce defensive tactics training. YetNapier shows the folly of this approach in thatany officer can be called upon to respond toa potentially life-threatening incident at anytime.21st century policingSenior Sergeant Malcolm Ward, anOperations Manager on the Technical SupportUnit for 20 years and with 42 years frontlineexperience, says that times have changedand Police need to change with the times. MrWard was present when Don Wilkinson wasshot during a surveillance operation.“We are in the 21st century now and timeshave changed drastically. We are facingserious issues of violence on the frontline,the magnitude of which we have not seenpreviously, and we have to respond to that. Iprefer a model where a member who deemsit necessary for the risks faced should beable to decide for him or herself whether it isappropriate to carry a firearm. I can assureyou I have no desire whatsoever to carry afirearm, nor for the responsibility that goeswith it, but with the reality of policing today Ibelieve it’s become a ‘no-brainer’.”Mr Ward said that policing is very fluid andthings can change to violence in the blink ofan eye. “You can’t say to an offender who ishell bent on grievously harming or killing youthat you’d like a few minutes to whip backto your patrol car to get a firearm out of thelockbox,” Mr Ward told Police News.“Of course, we would need to have farbetter firearms training than we have nowif that was to work though,” he added.“Picking up a firearm two days a year, firingoff a few shots at a target and saying I’maccomplished enough to be armed is quitefrankly, nonsense. If we were to give peoplethe discretion to use firearms according to thecircumstances then we would certainly needto think about more intensive firearms trainingto back that up,” he said.“In my experience, the Police Executive haveignored, or ‘fudged over’ this and other issuesfor a long time now. If there is a positiveresponse, it is usually a ‘one size fits all’ replyrather than anything specific to a particulargroup’s requirements. This has caused, orcauses frontline staff to operate in less thandesirable circumstances, take unnecessaryrisks and allows complacency to creep in toget the job done” Mr Ward said.Opinions variedOfficers spoken to by Police News reflectedthe results of the survey split suggestingunease with the current situation. Of about adozen frontline officers spoken to by PoliceNews, most favoured a change to firearmsbeing readily available in every frontline car.This would mean they would not have toreturn to the station or meet up with a NCO(non-commissioned officer) at a criticalincident. “If this happened there wouldbe less perceived need for everyone to bearmed,” one senior sergeant said.“In an ideal situation frontline vehicles wouldbe fitted with long-barrelled weapons securedin the front of them. This would give staffaccess to them before they exit the vehicle.The long-barrelled weapon (rather than apistol) is important because of the practicalproblems with using a pistol for anythingother than self-defence (their accuracy andstopping power over anything more than 5metres is very limited). The managementof their use could be done via a seal on thecabinet or lock that could be checked by theNCO at appropriate times and then resealedafter use, meaning the administration part ofissuing firearms could be done after a criticalincident rather than before as is the case atpresent,” the officer added.Some officers expressed concerns abouthaving Tasers in locked cabinets in a vehicletoo. “Having the thing in a locked cabinetin a vehicle is no use if something suddenlyhappens that wasn’t foreseeable. If we aregoing to issue them, we should be carryingthem,” one officer said in summing up a viewheld by several officers spoken to by PoliceNews.A shift supervisor, who did not wish to benamed, said: “We would need to adopt andtrain our staff in a totally different style ofpolicing that focused on weapon retention.One has to think twice about enteringpopulated areas (like pubs and clubs). Onehas to think twice about actually physicallygrappling with a person. When cops needguns they tend to need them immediately -having them in a locked box isn't helpful.”Perhaps the threshold at which we drawfirearms might need to be lower,” he said.A superintendent told Police News: “Whilewe don’t carry side-arms on our person, weare in a sense quietly armed as we carrythem in patrol cars and so they are fairlyreadily available to us as the need arises.But I wouldn’t want to see us generallyarmed.”Officer who was shotSenior Constable Mark Prendergast ofAshburton can speak from the uniqueperspective of someone who has beenshot. In April 1998, he and his partner wentto a routine domestic incident where MrPrendergast was shot in the back with ashotgun. “I am in favour of generally armingfrontline police because I believe that firstresponse units need all the tools availableto them to be able to adequately deal withall incidents they attend. Also, the need tohave to protect oneself, or another is never,nor will it ever be able to be accuratelypredicted,” he said.Even Mr Prendergast has his reservationsabout the maturity needed to handle afirearm and whether some members ofPolice would have the physical ability toprotect, guard and secure their firearm.“But I believe the New Zealand policingenvironment has reached the point where,unfortunately, we need to be armed. It's abig subject…there are fish hooks attachedof course but on the balance I think it istime.”Drastic changes in violence levelsAll of the officers spoken to, from frontlineconstables to inspectors, readily admittedthat policing has changed drastically inthe last two decades – certainly in termsof the levels of violence encountered fromcriminals.176August 2009