KEY POINTS:
Police Commissioner Howard Broad will recommend the officers involved in the killing of innocent bystander Halatau Naitoko during an armed confrontation with a gunman on Auckland's Northwestern Motorway meet the dead man's family.
Mr Broad - who visited Mr Naitoko's family in Mangere last night - said they
had shown "enormous strength and great humanity" in inviting him to their home.
He said he felt it was important he returned the sentiment. "We want to show our humanity by coming here. New Zealanders would want to see me here."
Mr Naitoko was killed after apparently being hit by police gunfire during a confrontation with armed gunman Stephen Hohepa McDonald, 50, after an hour-long police chase on Friday afternoon.
Mr Broad said it would not be appropriate for him to meet the Armed Offender Squad officers involved in Mr Naitoko's shooting while it was still being investigated, but he would urge those officers to meet the grieving family.
Speaking on his return from Bougainville - where he met New Zealand police peacekeepers - Mr Broad said he wanted "at the first available opportunity" to express his "profound sadness" to the family following the killing.
Mr Broad appeared visibly moved as he stood over Mr Naitoko's coffin.
The 17-year-old's widow, Stephanie Cook, broke down when embraced by Mr Broad.
Family spokesman Sofeso Sime said it was "emotionally difficult" for the family to meet someone who would oversee the investigation into Mr Naitoko's death, but Mr Broad's visit had warmed the family.
They considered his visit to be "a very positive indication", Mr Sime said.
Meanwhile, it was yesterday confirmed the two officers involved in Mr Naitoko's killing would not be involved in any Armed Offender Squad callouts until an investigation into the shooting was completed.
But police are refusing to say they have been stood down from AOS duties.
Assistant Commissioner Steve Shortland yesterday told the Herald the two officers were able to carry out normal police duties.
"At this point in the investigation there is no legal need to stand the officers involved in the shooting down from their duties," Mr Shortland said.
"However, as is standard practice, these officers will not be required to participate in any AOS callouts until this matter is resolved."
AOS staff are specially trained officers who attend armed incidents outside their normal police roles.
The officers will return to the AOS after a series of assessments - including psychological evaluations - but there is no timeframe on those assessments.
Mr Shortland would not say what the officers' normal police roles were, how long they had been in the police, or how long they had served as AOS members.
When asked if charges could be laid against police after ballistic tests confirmed whose bullet hit Mr Naitoko, Mr Shortland said: "This is a standard homicide investigation. Its purpose is to determine whether there is any criminal culpability of anyone involved."
Any review of AOS procedures would come only after "the usual debriefs and thorough identification of the facts and analysis of events as they unfolded", he said.
