Exploring the strategic impact of routine arming the New Zealand PoliceConference Paper presented at the Australia New Zealand Society of Criminology, Annual Conference, Auckland, November 2012.

Ross Hendy1

Wellington, New Zealand

1 © 2012 Ross Hendy

1. Introduction

New Zealand is one of four OECD countries that has a routinely unarmed police force where officers do not wear a firearm on their hip. While routinely unarmed, the New Zealand Police is an armed force. All constabulary officers routinely carry restricted weapons, such as pepper spray. But, with the exception of police stationed at international airports, New Zealand police officers do not wear firearms as a matter of routine. Instead, they have the ability to draw firearms should the circumstances dictate.

The objective of this paper is to discuss the findings of my research which looked at of the likely effect of the transition to a routinely armed police force on the relationship between the public and police.

My research considers the role of firearms in the police forces of England and Wales,2 Norway, and Sweden. The Norwegian police are not routinely armed but carry firearms in patrol vehicles, whereas the Swedish police are routinely armed. As these two Scandinavian countries are neighbours and share similar cultural backgrounds they provide an opportunity to understand why there are differences in approach in relation to arming police forces. The policing jurisdiction of England and Wales operates on a slightly different model, where only a proportion of officers may use firearms. Together, these jurisdictions provide insights as to how the relationship between the police and the public can be affected by different approaches to firearms.

While these countries are geographically distant from New Zealand they are the preferred choice for comparison. Scandinavian 2 The policing structure in the United Kingdom is based on legal jurisdictions grouped together as: England and Wales (as one jurisdiction), Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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police forces have not originated from the gendarmerie style that are prevalent in Continental Europe and they share similar heritage to Anglo-Saxon forces.3 Furthermore, Norway is of interest as it is routinely unarmed like New Zealand but provides for firearms to be located in locked boxes in all patrol cars. In addition, both Norway and Sweden share similar transparency and anti-corruption levels to New Zealand.4

The Research approachCase studies for each jurisdiction were constructed from information gathered from available literature, as well as interviews with criminologists and policing practitioners in each jurisdiction.5 The value in interviewing criminologists is to gain a theoretical perspective balancing criminological theory with localised policing or crime pressures. The inclusion of police practitioners is equally important to avoid the study being deemed irrelevant by police. The relationship between criminologists and police is not always functional with the latter considering the former as ‘arm-chair’ critics and also with distrust.6 A total of 41 candidates were approached to participate in the interview process but only 25 agreed to participate.

3. Interpretation & AnalysisTwo prominent themes emerged from the research findings. Firstly, that for the relationship to remain functional, the police must 3 Derek Lutterbeck, "Between Police and Military: The New Security Agenda and the Rise of Gendarmeries," Cooperation and Conflict 39.1 (2004).Gendarmeries are typically police forces under the control of defence ministries, as opposed to interior ministries, and serve a dual role to affect the laws of the federal state and act in a military police role during wartime. They are more of a paramilitary force and therefore typically armed or have greater access to heavy armament. 4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2010 (Berlin: Transparency International, 2010).5 Eisenhardt suggests that case studies typically consist of data collected from a variety of sources. These can include interviews, observations, questionnaires and archival searches. See Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, "Building Theories from Case Study Reserach," The Academy of Management Review 14.4 (1989): 534.6 Johannes Knutsson, "Nordic Reflections on the Dialogue of the Deaf," Police Practice and Research 11.2 (2010).Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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maintain a high level of police legitimacy. Also applicable, in jurisdictions that are based on the English ‘modern policing’ model, is the ‘policing by consent’ approach.7 Secondly, that the degree of police legitimacy can be affected by the manner in which firearms are used by the police.8

The research identified a number of factors that had the potential to risk the police-public relationship. Today I will discuss these in three groups. First, risk factors are categorised in relation to the potential ways they may affect police legitimacy. Other risk factors are arranged into two other groups: risks to police safety and risks to public safety.

Lets Start with threats to police legitimacy

3.1.1. Increasing the barrier between the public and policeConcern that barriers would be created between the police and the public is one of the most common reasons cited against routinely arming the police. This concern emerged as discussion points in the English and Norwegian interviews on the basis that many people are afraid of firearms.

However, it was considered unfounded by the majority of Swedish interviewees. Police in Sweden have been armed for decades and the Swedish interviewees felt that it did not inhibit their ability to relate cordially or compassionately with the public.

7 ‘Modern’ policing emerged in England in 1829 due to the prolonged efforts of Sir Robert Peel. The question of the modernisation of policing was addressed in parliamentary committees of 1812 although it took a further five attempts before Peel was successful in establishing the Metropolitan Police Act 1829. With the exception of the City, the new police force provided a unified public police force for the greater London area. Often referred to as the new police, Peel’s police force was a policing revolution with central government taking direct responsibility for the policing of society using a specialised public police with a new mandate of crime prevention.8 Kääriäinen, "Trust in the Police in 16 European Countries: A Multilevel Analysis.", Rappert, "Constructions of Legitimate Force. The Case of Cs Sprays.", P.A.J. Waddington, Otto Adang, David Baker, Christopher Birkbeck, Thomas Feltes, Luis Gerardo Gabaldón, Eduardo Paes Machado and Philip Stenning, "Singing the Same Tune? International Continuities and Discontinuities in How Police Talk About Using Force," Crime, Law and Social Change 52.2 (2008).Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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Some observed that the Swedish public did not notice firearms worn by officers. British criminologist Tank Waddington supports this view. He remarks that the current trend of wearing highly-visible jackets, stab resistant vests, expandable batons, pepper spray canisters and rigid handcuffs, makes it virtually impossible for members of the public to observe a holster holding a black pistol.9

Police officer interviewees conceded that routinely unarmed police behave differently when they are armed; their demeanour may become more serious, perhaps macho, or that officers may keep their distance from an individual to ensure weapon retention. One Swedish officer, though, commented that his demeanour was not affected by the fact that he was armed with a pistol; he considered his behaviour was affected instead by the surroundings or circumstances he found himself in. He had no qualms approaching and hugging a member of the public, in order to offer support or compassion for instance, and he did not feel unapproachable. Other Swedish and Norwegian officers agreed, that when they do deploy firearms, they can appear more serious and less approachable but considered this was likely to be due to the situation they were dealing with, as opposed to their armed status. This was a key revelation; people in Norway (and New Zealand) observe different demeanours in armed police officers and probably attribute this to the fact they are wearing firearms, rather than of the incident they are dealing with.

There was a consistent view amongst the interviewees that if police in Norway became routinely armed there would be an initial period of public ‘discomfort’ and uncertainty. This would only be a transitional effect; once the public became accustomed to seeing 9 Interviewee 20, Personal Interview. 28 June 2011Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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police wearing a pistol, then any discomfort would recede provided that there wasn’t an increase in police aggression that would affect police legitimacy. While Sweden’s police are ranked below Norway’s in the level of police trust Sweden still ranks in the top group above the rest of Europe. Furthermore, both Finland and Denmark rank first equal with the highest levels of police trust, and both countries have routinely armed police. This indicates that there is no direct detrimental link between the armed status of the police and the level of public trust in policing.

3.1.2. Frustrate or negatively impact upon the ability to police by consent ‘Policing by consent’ is a defining feature of Anglo-Saxon policing.10 Consent can be threatened by several factors, including a break down of police legitimacy or trust, and the emergence of militarisation or authoritarian regimes.11

It has been suggested that police reliance on the ‘threat of the firearm’ may erode police legitimacy because the public no longer explicitly consents to being policed; the public are ‘forced’ to submit to police by their fear of being shot. This was not the experience of the Swedish police interviewees, they believed that they are able to ‘police by consent’ while routinely armed.

Bittner suggests that policing ‘works’ because of the implicit threat to use force. The threat promotes compliance as the subject understands that noncompliance will most likely result in the actual use of force, and that the level of force cannot be overcome.12 The 10 David H. Bayley, Patterns of Policing : A Comparative International Analysis, Crime, Law, and Deviance Series (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1985), Buttle, "The Case against Arming the Police.", Reiner, The Politics of the Police, Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response.11 Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Fatal Force, Rappert, "Constructions of Legitimate Force. The Case of Cs Sprays.", Reiner, The Politics of the Police, Interviewee 22, Personal Interview. 1 July 2011, Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response.12 Bittner, "Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police."Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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degree of force available to police must therefore be greater than the ability of the subject to resist. This suggests the threat has to be more than symbolic; the threat must be a real threat of restraint. Rob Reiner observes that ‘policing by consent’ does not require universal acceptance for it to exist or work; but police authority must be at least accepted by the majority.13 This leaves a minority that may refuse to acquiesce, and so the police must have the actual ability to overcome their resistance. This is no different to the current situation; the police have options to use force to gain compliance, such as pepper sprays and batons, both of which can be lethal. The firearm serves the same function as the other weapons worn and deployed by police, but to a stronger degree.

3.1.3. Change from unarmed policing styles to those using more force and leading to an increase in weaponisation.The position posed by the New Zealand Police Association in 2010 is that the routine arming of the New Zealand Police will increase police safety.14 It is not the expectation that a pistol will be the primary weapon deployed, when dealing with firearms incident-driven events. Current training in New Zealand promotes the use of semi-automatic rifles as the preferred tactical option when dealing with firearm incidents. However, some literature indicates a concern that even the pistol will be increasingly used in circumstances which would not warrant it, as described by John Buttle as ‘mission

13 Reiner, The Politics of the Police.14 New Zealand Police Association, "Police Association Conference Calls for General Arming of Police."Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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creep’ and ‘threshold creep’.15 Keith Locke, amongst others, refers to this as the ‘American’ style of policing.16

John Buttle established that after the introduction of pepper sprays in England and Wales, officers relaxed the deployment threshold of the spray.17 He argues that a similar ‘threshold creep’ would occur after the introduction of routine armament.

So what is driving police decisions to use an increased level of force? Waddington suggests that lower level tactical responses, such as hand tactics, pepper spray or batons, are less advantageous to the officer, subject and public. The sight of officers grappling with an offender not only looks bad, which runs the risk of negatively affecting police legitimacy, but also increases the chances of injuries to the officer and offender.18 It has also been found that police confrontations which require more than one tactical response, such as an attempted handcuffing, then pepper spray, then the baton, can ultimately produce a more aggressive subject.19

The majority of Norwegian interviewees believed routine arming will inevitably lead to a corresponding increase use of firearms by police. Statistics prepared by Johannes Knutsson show that Norway has a lower shooting rate than the other routinely armed Nordic countries, and that the shooting rate of the other

15 Buttle, "The Case against Arming the Police.", John Buttle, The Shift from Defensive to Offensive Policing: Cs Spray and the Use of Force, University of Wales, 2005, John Buttle, "A Constructive Critique of the Officer Safety Programme Used in England and Wales," Policing and Society 17.2 (2007), William Sousa, Justin Ready and Michael Ault, "The Impact of Tasers on Police Use-of-Force Decisions: Findings from a Randomized Field-Training Experiment," Journal of Experimental Criminology 6.1 (2010).16 Keith Locke, Policing Bill - Third Reading, Parliametrary Debate. 28 August 2008. Opponents to routine arming of police forces commonly cite the myth of American policing styles in their arguments. Simon Jenkins suggests that possession of firearms by police encourages “the ‘Hollywood Cop’ police image at the expense of community policing”, see Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response 106-07. Also see references to “Dirty Harry” in Charles Edwards, Changing Policing Theories for 21st Century Societies, 2nd ed. (Annandale: Federation, 2005) 171-72.17 Buttle, The Shift from Defensive to Offensive Policing: Cs Spray and the Use of Force.18 Ross Wolf, Charlie Mesloh, Mark Henych and L. Frank Thompson, "Police Use of Force and the Cumulative Force Factor," Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 32.4 (2009).19 Ibid.Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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Nordic countries is broadly consistent between them.20 It is possible that the Norwegian firearms policy results in a restraining effect as the officer’s ability to deploy firearms is controlled by a higher authority.21 Equally, the character of the Norwegian criminal environment could affect the comparative shooting rates: it could be dissimilar to the other countries and therefore be producing a reduced number of ‘firearm-worthy’ events.

3.1.4. Legitimacy challenged through increase of unlawful deaths or accidental deaths Accidental deaths, or unlawful deaths, can challenge police legitimacy and professionalism.22 There was limited data from Norway and Sweden about unlawful or accidental deaths however the majority of interviewees were aware of the London shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005.

Maurice Punch observed that the shooting of de Menezes was “one of the most serious blunders in British policing” and identified that such shootings have the potential to completely destabilise the police-public relationship.23

Data collected on police shootings in the Swedish district of Skåne, showed a tendency of officers to un-holster their pistol when responding to certain types of incidents that would normally be responded to by unarmed police forces in Norway or New Zealand.24 20 Johannes Knutsson, "Police Use of Firearms in the Nordic Countries," Police Use of Force : A Global Perspective, eds. Joseph B. Kuhns and Johannes Knutsson (Santa Barbara, Calif. ; Oxford: Praeger, 2010) 120.21 There are strict controls in Norway on the deployment of firearms. Except in extreme circumstances, the local chief of police must approve the use and deployment of firearms personally. 22 Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Fatal Force, Rappert, "Constructions of Legitimate Force. The Case of Cs Sprays.", Reiner, The Politics of the Police, Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response, Waddington, "Armed and Unarmed Policing.", Interviewee 20, Personal Interview.23 Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Fatal Force p.174.24 The data comes from research into police shootings (n=77) between 1985-2004 in the Skåne police district in southern Sweden. The data was collected by a police tactical firearms trainer and provides a unique insight into police incidents. The police officer involved in each incident was interviewed at the completion of procedural and criminal investigations. The Skåne researcher believed that this allowed for a deep level of reflection and self-assessment without the fear of recrimination or sanction. For instance, interview questions included subjective self-assessments relating to ‘mental readiness’ and ‘panic’ shootings; topics that would arguably be omitted from discussions with criminal investigators, departmental or outside interviewers.Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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The data also showed a high incidence of panic shootings or shootings made before an officer was mentally prepared to shoot. Johannes Knutsson considered the decision making process when he observed the low rate of police shooting in Finland. He concluded that Finland’s lack of the requirement to fire a warning shot eased the decision making process and reduced the number of shootings.25 The Skåne data shows that despite the physical preparation of an officer to shoot, by un-holstering the firearm, the decision to shoot can occur extremely quickly and unexpectedly, as evidenced by the high number of panic shots fired. This supports the concern that ‘un-prepared’ shooting may lead to errors, which in turn leads to increase in accidental or unlawful deaths.

3.2 The next area to consider is possible threats to police safetyThe New Zealand Police Association reported that assaults on police increased by 32% over the decade ending 2009.26 They have also argued that routinely arming the police will lead to an increase in police safety and a decrease in serious assaults on police officers. However, there is evidence that suggests that routinely arming the police will coincide with an increased risk to officer safety.27

3.2.1. Policing is no less safe than other work environments Some suggest though that other professionals, such as taxi-drivers, share similar occupational health and safety issues to police officers, and as society wouldn’t respond by arming taxi-drivers, nor should society arm the police. In addition workers from 25 Johannes Knutsson, Personal Interview. 201126 New Zealand Police Association, Towards a Safer New Zealand: Police and Law & Order Policies for the Future (Wellington: New Zealand Police Association,, 2011).27 Knutsson, "Police Use of Firearms in the Nordic Countries.", Johannes Knutsson, "Police Use of Firearms – a Comparison" Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm, 14-16 June, 2010. Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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manufacturing, forestry, construction and leisure sectors have a higher incidence of injury or death than police.28

Harry More, however, warns of the danger of such comparisons because other professions do not have direct contact with the most dangerous people.29 Bittner’s “something-that-ought-not-to-be-happening-and-about-which-someone-had-better-do-something-now!” helps contextualise this for us. 30

A good example of this is police interaction with the mentally ill. Most often, when the mentally ill deteriorate, and are required to be brought into custody for compulsory care, it is the police, not mental health workers, who take them into custody. Interviewees from England and Wales, Norway, and Sweden discussed the impact of mental health deinstitutionalisation on police. One of the most recent Norwegian police officer homicides was as a result of such a procedure.

The unique nature of policing requires police to be trained in defensive tactics, and the use of weapons including firearms, in order for the police to adequately fulfil their role.31 While a great deal of police interventions do not require the explicit use of force, the police deal with the most dangerous and volatile members of society, therefore police require a unique set of skills and equipment. As such I can’t accept that the policing environment is similar to other professions.

28 Buttle, "The Case against Arming the Police."29 Harry W. More, Critical Issues in Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice Studies, 4th ed. (Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Pub. Co., 1985).30 Bittner, "Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police," 161.31 Geoffrey P. Alpert and Roger G. Dunham, Understanding Police Use of Force : Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), Bayley, Patterns of Policing : A Comparative International Analysis, Bittner, "Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police.", Buttle, The Shift from Defensive to Offensive Policing: Cs Spray and the Use of Force, Moll, Improving American Police Ethics Training: Focusing on Social Contract Theory and Constitutional Principles, More, Critical Issues in Law Enforcement, Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Fatal Force, Rappert, "Constructions of Legitimate Force. The Case of Cs Sprays.", Sousa, Ready and Ault, "The Impact of Tasers on Police Use-of-Force Decisions: Findings from a Randomized Field-Training Experiment.", Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response, Interviewee 20, Personal Interview.

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3.2.2. The illusion or extended capacity and safetyPete Squires suggests that giving a firearm to an officer gives the officer an illusion of safety; that carrying a firearm will make the officer feel safer and better equipped to deal with more dangerous situations.32 Knutsson observed this in the analysis of the Norwegian and Swedish data; he concluded that an armed officer is more likely to rush into an armed or dangerous situation than an unarmed officer.33 He found that on average the number of officers present during armed incidents in Norway is more than double that in Sweden.34

The Skåne data showed that a high proportion of shootings were in self-defence and had a large ‘panic’ element to them. The comparison of the Norwegian and Swedish data suggests that Swedish police officers are more inclined to engage, with fewer officers, in dangerous situations than the Norwegians, and then find them shooting in self-defence.

3.2.3. Police themselves will become victims of shooting by their own weapon and not all English police officers are suited to using firearms The view that police will become victims of their own weapons is an often cited.35 It was raised by a number of interviewees in England, who were concerned that not all English police are suited to using firearms and may become victims themselves.36

The statistics on the likelihood of this occurring suggests the risk is relatively low. Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that 39 officers were killed by an offender using an officer’s 32 Squires and Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response.33 Knutsson, Personal Interview.34 Knutsson "Police Use of Firearms – a Comparison" 35 Bott, The Police Arms Race.36 See section 4.2Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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pistol between 2000-2009 in the United States, one was killed using a rifle and one with a baton.37 After adjustment for the New Zealand context, this would amount to a fractional rate of 0.039 officers in New Zealand per year, or one officer in New Zealand dying by their own weapon every 25 years.38

3.2.4. An increased chance of police officer suicideIt was suggested by one English and one Norwegian interviewee that routine arming would result in an increase of police suicide because of the increased availability of firearms. A 1999 study of police officers in Germany found that police officers had a high rate of suicide compared to other occupations, and found that the most common method was by firearm, although it did not specify if the firearm was police issue or personal.39 It is difficult to draw any conclusions. But, if routine arming is linked to an increase in police suicide rates, on the basis that officers had a greater access to firearms, then risks can be mitigated. For instance, Swedish police forces do not carry their weapons when they are off-duty; they are stored securely at police stations.

3.2.5. Arming police with a pistol will not make police safer as most criminals who use firearms will use a rifle or shotgun It has been suggested that routinely arming the police would result in a corresponding increase in criminal armament and that arming with pistols is an inadequate match for a rifle or shotgun.40 There

37 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2009 (2010).38 This is formulated on the total number of US Law Enforcement Officers being 883,600 at 2008 (US Department of Labour http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm#projections_data) and 8840 sworn constabulary staff of the New Zealand Police, 2011.39 Schmidtke, Fricke and Lester, "Suicide among German Federal and State Police Officers."40 Bott, The Police Arms Race.Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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was no corroboration in the data to support this view. Swedish interviewees commented that the degree of weapons used by the public had changed over the past 30 years. While knives were commonplace 30 years ago, firearms are predominant now. But that the level of violence within Sweden has not changed, the most dramatic change is that violence is now occurring in more public contexts. There is, however, no discernable link to this as a result of routine arming of police.

3.3 The third set of risks to consider are threats to public safety

3.3.1. Increased use of firearms on the mentally ill and ‘suicide-by-cop’The impact of the deinstitutionalisation of mentally ill, was evident in the three case studies when interviewees described changes in the policing environment. The Office of Police Integrity of the state of Victoria found that 53% of fatal police shootings during the period of 1990-2004 involved individuals suffering from a mental illness or disorder.41 The OPI believed that this was due to a police culture of reliance on firearms as a result of a lack of training on how to control situations involving the mentally ill.42 New Zealand shares a similar history and pathway of deinstitutionalisation43 and the New Zealand Police have already experienced several incidents including the mentally ill that resulted in fatalities such as the shooting incident in 2000 involving Steven Wallace.44

41 G. E. Brouwer, Review of Fatal Shootings by Victoria Police (Melbourne: Office of Police Integrity, 2005).42 Ibid.43 Alun E. Joseph and Robin A. Kearns, "Deinstitutionalization Meets Restructuring: The Closure of a Psychiatric Hospital in New Zealand," Health & Place 2.3 (1996).44 Independent Police Conduct Authority, Report on the Shooting of Steven Wallace (Wellington: Independent Police Conduct Authority, 2009).Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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3.3.2. An increase in police shootingsIt has been suggested that routine armament would result in an increase in police shootings. Norwegian and English interviewees supported this view. Knutsson has observed that Swedish officers fire their firearms five times more often than Norwegians.45 The Skåne data shows that Swedish officers have a high proportion of ‘panic-shooting’ for self defence. Fears of American ‘nightmare’ scenarios are often raised, where police routinely have their firearm out and pointed at the person they are dealing with.46 These are valid concerns; one study of shootings by the Chicago police found that of 523 civilians shot by police over a four-year period in the 1970s, 14% were unintentional.47 However Waddington’s 2008 study found that there is vast cultural variance in when a police officer un-hoslters a firearm, finding that officers in South America were more likely to un-hoslter as opposed to those in Europe.

3.3.3. A decrease in sense of public safety in societyThe Norwegian interviewees commented that the transition to a routinely armed police force would lead to a decreased sense of public safety. Because the image of firearms on police is not routine, as it is in Sweden, the sight of weapons on police indicates danger: the narrative being the police must be armed because there is something dangerous occurring. Nonetheless, the Norwegian interviewees consistently agreed that any decrease in the public’s sense of safety, due to seeing their police armed, would eventually diminish. Society would eventually get used to it.

45 Knutsson, Personal Interview.46 Locke, Policing Bill - Third Reading, Parliametrary Debate.47 More, Critical Issues in Law Enforcement 109.Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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Conclusion So what can we make of all of this?When considering risks to police legitimacy I found that the commonly feared risk was that a barrier would emerge between the police and public if the police become routinely armed. This fear was considered to be largely unfounded in Sweden. There was a more varied response in the potential for the increased use of force, however an increase or decrease in the level of force used by police depended on the officer’s perceptions of risk.

The most serious risk to police officer safety will likely be the “illusion of safety” that an officer forms because of the carriage of a firearm. As Knutsson suggests, routinely arming police may lead to a reduction in police safety if it makes officers more inclined to engage in dangerous situations.

Routinely arming the police does pose genuine risks to public safety. The potential risk for injuries and deaths to the mentally ill appears to be the most likely risk, given the experiences in Victoria. Training, and deployment of appropriate tactical responses, can mitigate the extent of this risk. It is also likely that routine arming will result in an increase of shootings, with a real risk of unintentional harm or accidental shootings. This has the potential to undermine the police-public relationship.

What we know is that Policing is strategically important to the maintenance of modern society.48 It is one of the few branches of 48 Monica Moll, Improving American Police Ethics Training: Focusing on Social Contract Theory and Constitutional Principles (Urbana, I.L.: Forum on Public Policy, 2006), Maurice Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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the state that is empowered to use force in order to fulfil its mandate.49 While police have the potential to use force, they don’t always exercise their right to use it. Force is used with discretion; but the level of force used by police must be seen by the public to be appropriate and proportionate to the level of threat if police are to maintain public trust and therefore police legitimacy.

This research project has been designed not to deliberate on the merits or need of routinely arming the New Zealand Police. Instead, it is hoped that it will help inform the decision makers of the potential consequences of such a decision. The research findings, and subsequent analysis, need to be taken with caution. They are largely based upon the opinions of criminologists and police practitioners as well as a selection of published theory. Further research and analysis is recommended, particularly to investigate the views of the public.

Fatal Force (Bristol: Policy Press, 2011), Brian Rappert, "Constructions of Legitimate Force. The Case of Cs Sprays," British Journal of Criminology 42.4 (2002), Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, 4th ed. (New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2010), Peter Squires and Peter Kennison, Shooting to Kill? : Policing, Firearms and Armed Response (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), P.A.J. Waddington, "Armed and Unarmed Policing," Policing across the World, ed. Rob I. Mawby (London: UCL Press Limited, 1999), P. A. J. Waddington and Martin Dr Wright, What Is Policing? (Exeter: Learning Matters, 2010).49 Egon Bittner, "Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police," Policing Key Readings, ed. Tim Newburn (Devon: Willan Publishing, 1974), Punch, Shoot to Kill : Police Accountability, Firearms and Fatal Force, Reiner, The Politics of the Police.Exploring the Strategic Impact of routine arming the New Zealand Police | Executive Summary © 2012 Ross Hendy

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