Police set aside $6m to get more guns in patrol cars

Giving front-line police faster and better access to guns will cost the police at least $6 million.

Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said he had set aside $6m to put firearms safes in the boots of front line patrol cars.

The move would make sure every front line police officer had greater access to automatic rifles and pistols, said the latest issue of the Police Association magazine, Police News.

Police would also "ramp up" training for police to make sure they were all ready for the allocation of the additional guns, said the magazine.

Most patrol cars did not carry firearms but they were available to front-line officers if a senior officer decided police or the public could be put in danger.

Front-line police had been calling for greater access to firearms for some time as attacks on police continued to rise.

The latest move was expected to put a semi-automatic rifle, a 9mm Glock pistol, a Taser stun gun and body armour in the back of front-line police cars.

Earlier this year Mr Marshall said he did not approve of generally arming police with hand guns.

He said nothing he had seen or heard convinced him that arming police would improve the safety of police or the public.

He said most front-line police did not want police to be routinely armed but they did want greater access to weapons.

- NZPA