Arming Police: Fears of ‘more dead Māori kids’ if police are routinely armed

People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA) is raising alarm bells for community safety in a potential future where New Zealand police are armed.

This comes after the new Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told RNZ Morning Report, he was “open” to discussing the routine arming of officers.

PAPA spokesperson Emmy Rākete called the move, if made, “disastrous”.

“We don’t want to end up like America. We’ve seen too many stories of black people being killed by routinely armed cops.

“More cops with guns will mean more dead Māori kids.”

Emmy Rakete.

Chambers was named the new Police Commissioner on Wednesday, taking the role over from Andrew Coster.

Currently, police officers do not carry firearms but are equipped with tasers. However, they do have access to a range of firearms when necessary.

“New Zealanders do not want to see cops walking around with guns. American-style policing will lead to American-style gun violence,” Rākete said.

She is referring to many instances in the US where officers have discharged their weapons at civilians, some fatally.

The PAPA spokesperson warned if police officers became routinely armed with guns there would be a “widespread resistance”.

“On Tuesday, we saw tens of thousands of people marching for Te Tiriti. The police should expect resistance from Māori when our lives are on the line,” she said.

Richard Chambers has been named the next Police Commissioner. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The community group is calling on Chambers to immediately rule out any routine arming of New Zealand cops.

On RNZ’s Morning Report, Chambers said he hoped Aotearoa wouldn’t be in a situation where routine arming was needed.

“I would like to think that we didn’t get to a place where general arming was a thing here.”

Currently, he is only open to the discussion and believes there may be a need for a conversation on the topic.

“I really want to listen to what they’ve got to say,” Chambers said.