Protecting our police: Should NZ frontline officers carry guns?

Growing concern about public safety has reignited the idea of arming our frontline police officers. The police union says 68% of officers support routine arming – and, our new police commissioner, Richard Chambers, is apparently ‘open’ to discussions around it – although he’s also said we’re ‘proud of having unarmed police’ and he’d like to keep it that way. This is all while, in the first hours of 2025, a car rammed into a police vehicle at a Nelson gathering – Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming later died in hospital, another officer was critically injured. This was followed by another attempted ramming a week later. So do we need to look at better protect those whose jobs are to protect us – or are there risks to giving more power to the police? Today on The Front Page, Auckland University criminology lecturer Dr. Emmy Rākete joins us to discuss. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Ethan SillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.