Police have acknowledged a series of problems regarding the way the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) operates in Auckland.
The revelation - by the national tactical group manager, Superintendent Bruce Dunstan - came on Tuesday at the inquest into the death of Halatau Naitoko, who was mistakenly shot by an AOS member last year.
The 17-year-old unwittingly drove into the middle of a confrontation between police and a gunman on Auckland's north-western motorway.
The AOS has previously been criticised for not deploying enough squad members to the incident.
Mr Dunstan says a review is under way as to how their response can be improved. He says members are on a part-time, on-call basis that they balance with their other police work, so it's never known how many will be available to respond.
He says there is usually one callout a day, and because of that the idea of a full-time squad is being considered.
At the moment, Mr Dunstan says, they're having trouble recruiting people because of the sheer workload the job entails.
Coroner Gordon Matenga has reserved his decision, which is expected to be known sometime in the New Year.
