Simon Power
National Party Law & Order Spokesman

9 February 2006

Care needed over stun gun trial

It is essential that trials of stun guns by police should be well monitored and transparent, says National’s Law & Order spokesman, Simon Power.

“As long as we continue to have unarmed police in New Zealand we should not, at this point of time, be ruling out using stun guns.

“However, National wants to ensure there is a thorough and well monitored trial of the guns, and full transparency in the decision-making process.

“The circumstances in which the guns will be used and the level of training the officers will receive need to be spelled out very clearly. The public must be assured that the guns are only ever in the hands of highly trained officers.

“It is essential that New Zealanders see that this process has been carried out with all due care.

“And they need to be assured that any move toward using such weaponary would not be the first step toward a fully armed police,” says Mr Power.

ENDS

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