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Police armed response teams were established after the attacks on the Christchurch mosque were abandoned because they “created fear” in the community, new documents have revealed.
The documents, released under the Official Information Act, show that Police Commissioner Andy Coster wrote to district commanders shortly before abolishing the trial.
He said the teams had not built up community support or inspired trust, as expected.
John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
The new Police Armed Response Team is looking for a person of concern.
“These ART created fear, which was the exact opposite of what we were trying to achieve,” Coster wrote.
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Police sources said Stuff the project and the work of the team members were not adequately articulated to the public, and the police lost control of the public relations narrative.
The trial, filed Oct. 18, covered Manukau, Waikato and Canterbury counties.
At the launch, former Commissioner Mike Bush cited the mosque attacks, the growth of organized crime and meth-fueled crime as justification for the new equipment.
An informational document that police chiefs sent to their minister Stuart Nash three days later said that Armed Offenders Brigade personnel would be transferred to the team from the branch of trafficking, criminal investigation and other duties.
The briefing also showed that new ART members would have broad roles, including proactive crime prevention work.
Dominico Zapata / Things
Anjum Rahman said that some members of the community felt that ART was dominant and not conducive to building trust.
The visibility of ART meant it was crucial that public perceptions of the new teams were well understood, the briefing document added to Nash.
Former Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement told Nash that a “comprehensive communications plan” would handle the expectations of the public and staff.
The briefing document said community groups, including Muslim leaders and the Commissioner’s iwi advisory forum, were consulted before the launch.
But Anjum Rahman of the New Zealand Council of Islamic Women said ART was imposed on communities with little or no prior consultation.
He said that the mosque shootings did not justify the teams and that the ART would not have stopped the terrorist attack.
“Even if you had routinely had armed police officers, they had no one outside the mosque.”
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
New Police Commissioner Andy Coster said ART was incompatible with the policing style that Kiwis expected.
He said marginalized communities needed better community policing, with trusted agents who could step in to ease tensions before armed police officers were needed.
Rahman said armed police were stationed outside some mosques after the terror attacks last year.
“If you have a specific threat, or a specific occasion, then yes, the community feels more secure in those few months.”
She said ART did not accomplish that.
Police Association President Chris Cahill said the evidence he had seen since the trial ended showed ART members reduced numerous dangerous situations and drew their weapons no more than five times.
He said the murder of Sheriff Matthew Hunt in June and a reported shooting in Whangārei on Wednesday showed that there may still be a need for a unit with roles between those of frontline police and the AOS.
Cahill said the AOS model hadn’t changed substantially since the 1960s.
He said that some aspects of the armed response teams had merit, but that the trial failed to convince the public.
Coster said in June that future police proposals on tactical capacity work would go to communities, to ensure that police and the public collaborate on community policing models.
