> That’s absolutely insane.
>
> If the criminals have not taken advantage of that fact by now, make no mistake about it, they will at some point. Bank on it.
Surprisingly, it works really well. The Police themselves resist every effort to make them patrol armed (the question arises in Parliament from time to time).
They certainly have access to firearms — Glocks, Bushmasters, HK sub-machineguns, tactical shotguns — which are sometimes locked in the boot of their car, or back at the station.
For serious armed offender situations, the Armed Offenders Squad is called. They train alongside the NZ SAS and they are armed to the teeth.
But, for the most part, the average cop takes down crooks without using firearms. And they are very, very good at it.
It is probable that their fitness level would be higher than the average US cop: I can honestly say I haven’t seen an overweight or out-of-shape NZ cop.