A surge in the number of police threatened with a firearm in the past two years shows that New Zealand's gun problem is increasing, says the Police Association.
One in three officers threatened with guns in the past year did not report every incident. File photo. Photo: RNZ/Adriana Weber
A survey of Police Association members showed a 38 percent increase in police officers being threatened, with 12 percent of the police force threatened with a firearm in the past two years.
Association president Chris Cahill said that meant one in eight officers had been threatened.
"It's 21 percent of frontline officers, or one in five have been threatened in the last year, and further to that, a number of those have been threatened a number of times.
"They really are alarming figures and figures that have to be addressed by politicians in New Zealand around gun control."
Mr Cahill said the survey, conducted by research company Nielsen, also showed that one in three members who were threatened with guns in the past year did not report every incident.
He said the association had advocated for general arming of police for some time, and they believed public support for this was also increasing.
