Last month, the police announced a trial of specialist roaming armed units, which would drive round (poor, brown) areas in armoured SUVs, armed to the teeth. When they announced the trial, they told us it was about having armed police "ready to attend major incidents at any time if needed". What it actually means is armed police doing traffic stops:
Residents and politicians fear new armed police teams are being used for lower-risk responses and "preventative patrolling" after an arrest in suburban Hamilton over the weekend.
Video footage shows police from the newly formed Armed Response Teams pulling over a car linked to a dishonesty crime on a suburban Hamilton road.
The footage showed two officers, at least one with a Glock pistol, talking to a man sitting in a car on the side of the road. No other police cars or officers can be seen.
Police later said the stop was entirely appropriate, and resulted in the man being arrested without incident for "breaching conditions".
Basicly they're sitting by the side of the road running number plates and looking for people to pull over and point guns at - exactly the sort of shit you get in America. It is not what armed police are for in New Zealand, and it is likely only a matter of time before some twitchy, hyped-up cop machine-guns someone.
