I vote for cops to start carrying.

[Deano]

understand that you guys are under-Resourced

Is this a bigger factor in crime reduction in NZ, more so than armed Police ?

[SARGE]

Is this a bigger factor in crime reduction in NZ, more so than armed Police ?

i see it as a bit of mis-management of available resources.. too much time spent on traffic enforcement and not enough on where it counts .. with the increase in crime statistics .. i think it would be a better use of what the NZ Police have to concentrate more on crime than 111 kph.. yes we DO need some traffic enforcement .. i admit that .. but i think dealing with the bigger shit is necessary at this time .. pop some more private security on the streets and let them deal with the taggers and drunks.. let the cops deal with the burglaries, violent crimes and domestic issues ..


arm the Police or the Population.. NZ is at the point where it needs to be one or the other of them.. i prefer the Police ..

[scumdog]

Is this a bigger factor in crime reduction in NZ, more so than armed Police ?

True, very true.

But that's just MY opinion, bosses think otherwise, i.e. we've got enough spare cops hanging around to send some to the 9/11 Memorial Service and do a Haka, we've got enough cops spare to send to the Solomons & East Timor (in todays ODT there's an article about two Dunners cops staying there for a 2nd six-month stint) etc etc etc.
(WTF have the shiney-bums not noticed that we've enough problems at home???)

[ManDownUnder]

True, very true.

But that's just MY opinion, bosses think otherwise, i.e. we've got enough spare cops hanging around to send some to the 9/11 Memorial Service and do a Haka, we've got enough cops spare to send to the Solomons & East Timor (in todays ODT there's an article about two Dunners cops staying there for a 2nd six-month stint) etc etc etc.
(WTF have the shiney-bums not noticed that we've enough problems at home???)

It's an age old problem - people are always keen to help others... and don't realise they need to fix their own damned problems first. Combine that with international diplomacy and you have a mass deployment of NZ cops to our immediate detriment.

[McJim]

The police don't offer enough salary to employ the brightest and best - sheesh New Zealand employers have been chasing their best employees overseas for the last decade with their bread line salaries but that's another argument.

Bottom line is that Police starting salary is little better than that of someone stacking shelves in Manchester - would you allow a Manc shelf stacker carry a sidearm? Neither would I.

Special response teams with arms but every single bobby on the beat - not for me. Police are people like us and are therefore fallible, like us. I'd like to know the officer with a gun has proven their judgement is sound with a good decade in the force before being allowed a machine that was invented to kill people.

I still think they should get rid of their Big Engined fleet and buy some proper cars instead - this will free up the money to pay for proper officers - no one below the age of 25 for example (under developed frontal lobe - poor judgement calls)

my 2c