Covid 19 Omicron protest: De-escalation remains best way to end protest says Police Commissioner

De-escalating the protest at Parliament remains front of mind for Police Commissioner Andrew Coster as it enters day 16.

He told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that bringing in the Defence Force would be an "extreme situation".

"I don't think any of us want to see soldiers on our street and that's unlikely to land in a good place for us as a country particularly in the longer term," Coster said.

He said he would never rule out forcibly removing the protest but police focus at the moment "remained de-escalation" as the only strategy that would end the situation "in good shape".

"And that needs to be a combination of police taking action when it's appropriate," he said.

Concrete barriers have been stationed around the protest. Photo / George Heard

Yesterday officers moved concrete barriers closer to the occupied area, and some officers were sprayed with an "unknown substance".

Coster told AM that these officers were doing okay today.

He couldn't say with certainty who had thrown it or if it had accidentally come from police pepper spray but he did not believe it was.

"We believe it was a liquid thrown at police."

Yesterday some officers were sprayed with an "unknown substance". Photo / George Heard

Coster said some protest leaders were supporting police, but were struggling to effect change.

Some were protesting legitimate issues, but a group within the mob were still causing issues, he said.

"Those influencers are able to cause havoc around the place so the whole protest is contributing to that.

"While they may not be responsible for them themselves the situation is of their making and the situation as it sits is impacting the university, it's impacting public transport so we are looking to them to effect change and we are beginning to worry that they maybe [are] unable to."

He expects the illegal activity to stop once the protestors clear out and focus remains on "shrinking the impact of the protest".

Scenes at the protest on day 15 when a car drove into officers and the crowd. Photo / George Heard

Coming to a resolution was proving to be a challenge he said given the scale of the situation.

"Our focus is on making sure we can keep our roads clear, keep the protest peaceful and return the city to where it needs to be."

Yesterday police said there were reports of sexual assault at the site.

On this, Coster said he was really concerned for public safety.

"Within the grounds of this protest there is not normal policing activity occurring so people who are in there are more vulnerable than they would be in the normal community," he said.