KEY POINTS:
Police Commissioner Howard Broad has made an "in-principle" decision to adopt the Taser stun-gun - but in an unusual move wanted to hear MPs views before formalising it.
The decision to adopt the Taser was Mr Broad's alone.
But instead of being announced by Police, it was revealed
in Parliament by Police Minister Annette King.
Ms King read the the ministerial statement this afternoon, saying Mr Broad wants MPs to "express their views" and will make his decision "shortly after".
"He also hopes MPs agree that his approach is the most appropriate one for responding to the issues of risk to the public and to the police; and for continuing the tradition of having a routinely unarmed police service, a value closely held by New Zealanders".
The statement also revealed the Taser will be equipped with Taser Cams, devices which make an evidential record when it is fired.
Ms King said: "Police say that the Taser's built-in recording mechanisms provide enhanced auditing opportunities, and the recent availability of cameras with the device provides even greater reassurance around deployment if complaints are made."
Mr Broad is proposing the Tasers already owned by the police be returned to the trial districts.
He says the Tasers will not be carried on the hip of patrolling staff.
Instead, they will kept in secure cabinets in police vehicles and deployed only on approval by a supervisor.
In the "medium-term" he seeks to purchase units to equip all 12 districts to the same standard.
Green Party MP Keith Locke told MPs the decision was "a very sad day for policing in New Zealand"
He said the Greens were already concerned about 'mission creep' in the use of the pepper spray - including in the confined space of a Whakatane Police cell.
Mr Locke said they were yet to be convinced that the police administration has got on top of pepper spray misuse by some police officers "it isn't the time to equip such officers with a much more dangerous weapon, the 50,000 volt Taser stun gun".
The Taser was trialled from September 2006 to August 2007 in Auckland, Wellington and the Wairarapa.
Staff reported back to Howard Broad in December.
The Police Association has called for the introduction of the Taser, saying the trial was a success.
The association has said the opponents to police being issued with Tasers are ignoring the realities of modern policing.
Last year a United Nations report described them as a "form of torture".
The UN Committee Against Torture said it was worried by the use of Tasers.
It said the 50,000-volt stun guns caused "extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and ... in certain cases could also cause death".
