I’m concerned that Armed Response Teams put Māori lives in danger. Statistics collected by the police themselves show that Māori are almost 8x more likely than Pākehā to be the victims of police violence. This is a national disgrace, requiring immediate rectification. If police are significantly more likely to injure or kill Māori, it is irresponsible and racist to increase the level of force they will use. More police rifles in Māori communities will lead to more police bullets in Māori people. You cannot allow this to happen.

The armed police patrol trial was begun without any consultation with Māori people, in breach of the Crown’s treaty responsibility to actively seek out Māori communities’ input on decisions which affect them. As the primary victims of police violence, this trial clearly affects Māori. This trial has put Māori in danger, and threatens to see many more Māori harmed or killed by the police. This breaches the Crown’s treaty responsibility to actively protect the interests of Māori. You must ensure that the armed police patrol trial is ended.

This trial is putting the lives of people with mental illness at risk. Those with mental illness are more likely to face violence from police. While mental illness does not make a person more likely to be violent or dangerous, police are more likely to use tasers against people with mental illnesses than those without. 2016 police statistics show that tasers were used in 25% of all cases involving people with mental illness, compared to 16% for the rest of the population. By 2018, police use of tasers against people with mental illnesses had risen to 32%. Introducing armed police patrols makes these interactions deadly, and vulnerable people will be killed by police.

Police respond to tens of thousands of callouts relating to mental health each year, but do not have the training or experience to help people in crisis. Police presence often escalates mental health emergencies, and the inability to control the situation results in police using brute force. The risk is especially high for Māori and Pasifika people, who have higher rates of mental illness than Pākehā and are significantly more likely to be targeted by police. When tasers were first trialled in 2006-2007, police were more than twice as likely to discharge them in mental health emergencies than during arrests. In spite of promises that tasers would not be used in these situations, police won’t stop tasering people who are suicidal or in distress. Arming a police force that routinely uses violence against people in a mental health crisis is unconscionable. Arming them with guns is deadly. You must ensure this trial is ended and that armed response teams do not become part of law enforcement strategy.

The armed police patrol trial is a strategy for law enforcement that New Zealanders do not support. Arming police will make de-escalation and community-oriented justice totally impossible. If frontline police are armed with firearms, they will use those firearms in tense situations. This is not a precedent that should be accepted in our communities. These situations, which might not otherwise have involved gunfire, will now become shootouts. In a period where more and more people are calling for police to de-escalate, it is unbelievable that the police would move towards routine arming. This policy must be reversed and the armament of cops ended.

Police have claimed that this is a necessary response to firearm crime, however, OIA data acquired by People Against Prisons Aotearoa showed that firearm crime has not worsened. The best way to defuse the situations in which firearms are being used is to negotiate and de-escalate when possible, not to shoot blindly and hope for the best. This response, which armed police patrols make impossible, will prevent a reciprocal arms race between the police and people expecting to be shot at by the police. The only way to save all the lives which will be lost is for the armed police patrol trials to be ended and abandoned.

Trialling armed response teams is taking law enforcement in the wrong direction. We are massively overinvested in criminal justice, while many communities cannot access the support and services they need to live with dignity. The focus needs to shift from punitive measures and harsher policing to addressing the causes of crime -- poverty, alienation, and racism.

This trial has introduced heavily armed police squads into the community without any justification. It is well documented that police armament doesn’t reduce rates of violent crime, nor does it make frontline police officers any safer. Law enforcement strategy needs to be informed by what works, and international research has shown that armed police fail to make communities safer. Routine armed police patrols mean that more police guns will be used, and more people will be shot and killed by police. This is unacceptable. Armed response teams are endangering people's lives and ultimately will not reduce the prevalence of crime and violence. You must make sure that all armed police patrols end with this trial.

“Kia ora, my name is ______. and I’m calling to give my feedback on the armed response team trial. I’m concerned that this trial has put Māori people in danger. Police statistics show that Māori are almost 8x more likely to be the victims of police violence than Pākehā. Putting heavily-armed police on patrol in Māori communities will make it far more likely that police will shoot and kill Māori people. Unless the problem of racist police violence is solved in this country, we can’t risk arming the police. This trial of armed police patrols was also begun without consulting Māori. This is in breach of the Crown’s treaty responsibility to actively seek Māori input on decisions which affect Māori communities. Armed police patrols would make Māori disproportionately likely to be shot and killed by police, and this policy would therefore also breach the Crown’s treaty responsibility to actively protect Māori interests. This trial is racist and irresponsible. I urge you to ensure that armed response teams do not become policy.”

• If speaking to an MP: “Please ensure that the Minister of Police uses his power to set responsible ministerial directives regulating the police force.”
• If speaking to a cop: “Please ensure that my feedback is recorded and registered with the Police Commissioner as firm opposition to this trial.”

“Kia ora, my name is ______. I’m calling to give my feedback on the armed police patrol trial. I’m concerned that armed response teams are putting people with mental illness in danger. People with mental illness are disproportionately the victims of police violence. Police are called to mental health emergencies every day, although they don’t have training or experience to help in these situations and often resort to violence. The introduction of police tasers has been disastrous for people with mental illness, with police using tasers in almost a third of all cases involving people with mental illness. Heavily armed police patrols will mean that people with mental illness will be shot not only with tasers, but with guns too. This trial has endangered some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Since it began, police have already shot and killed a suicidal man they had been called to help. This has to be stopped. I urge you to ensure that armed police patrols come to an end.”

• If speaking to an MP: “Please ensure that the Minister of Police uses his power to set responsible ministerial directives regulating the police force.”
• If speaking to a cop: “Please ensure that my feedback is recorded and registered with the Police Commissioner as firm opposition to this trial.”

“Kia ora, my name is ______, and I’m calling to give my feedback on the police armed response team trial. These teams make me afraid to call the police in an emergency - afraid for my community, and afraid of how police with firearms will act. Police need to be de-escalating tense situations, not intimidating people and threatening them with violence. If these teams become policy, I will be less likely to reach out for the police because of what they might do. The police have said these teams are necessary because of firearm crime, but firearm crime rates haven’t gotten worse in years. If the police routinely carry guns, then people expecting to be shot at by police will begin routinely carrying guns as well. The police have a responsibility not to set off an arms race, and that means the armed police patrol trial has to end and the idea has to be abandoned. We can’t have safer communities together if the police are pointing assault rifles at everybody.”

• If speaking to an MP: “Please ensure that the Minister of Police uses his power to set responsible ministerial directives regulating the police force.”
• If speaking to a cop: “Please ensure that my feedback is recorded and registered with the Police Commissioner as firm opposition to this trial.”

“Kia ora, my name is ______, and I’m calling to give my feedback on the armed response team trial. I think these trials are taking policing in the complete wrong direction. Arming cops doesn’t help to address the causes of crime at all. People need resources, support, and services. Why do we have money to buy police machine guns but not to pay for frontline crisis mental health responders? Routine armed police patrols will put more armed cops in our communities, which will lead to more people being shot and killed. This trial has put New Zealanders in danger. It won’t make anybody safer. Please make sure that armed police patrols are ended forever with this trial.”

• If speaking to an MP: “Please ensure that the Minister of Police uses his power to set responsible ministerial directives regulating the police force.”
• If speaking to a cop: “Please ensure that my feedback is recorded and registered with the Police Commissioner as firm opposition to this trial.”