I am immensely proud to live in a country where, when faced with a well trained and armed guy fortressed in a house, the police acted in a responsible manner.
Even after the provocation of seeing one of their number shot and lie dead in the street for the duration of the siege, police fired only two shots throughout the entire event. Well done.
So if you happen to have your own stash of guns and explosives in your fortressed home, then remember this simple thing. No matter how much you provoke the police, or how much they provoke you, they will not shoot you.
This isn’t America, it isn’t the movies – it is New Zealand, and I am happy to live here.
So I fervently hope we do not over-react to this outlier incident by arming police – with either guns or tasers. Neither would have helped, but more importantly if our criminals know they won’t get shot then they are far less likely to shoot first.
And that is safer for everybody.
Lance Wiggs 
What a great piece! I am amazed every time I hop on a plane to our nearest neighbour Australia and see all those police officers armed on the streets. The same when going to the U.S.
Friends in the U.S. still seem surprised when I tell them constables do not carry guns in New Zealand.
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> No matter how much you provoke the police, or how much > they provoke you, they will not shoot you.
Steven Wallace?
I wonder too whether there is any independent person accompanying the police as they move through Molenaar’s home; or will we be dependent only on their evidence as to what was there and where is was when they found it? (cf David Bain ambiguities)
Can the Independent Police Complaints Austhority really represent a neutral point of view if dependent entirely on police evidence?
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I couldn’t agree more.
There’s something wonderfully free about feeling safe from stray police bullets. A great place to bring up children.
And… you have to hand it to the Napier cops, what patience under pressure. It must have been tough with one of their mates lying dead in the street.
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