Kerre McIvor: Who does Poto Williams actually represent?
(Photo / NZ Herald)
Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 12:49PM
We are one of just 19 nations out of 197 that does not have an armed police force.
Most are island nations like the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu and the like.
But Norway, the UK, with the exception of Northern Island, Iceland and New Zealand are the outliers in more developed nations who have decided that they will police by consent and not force.
However, times change, communities change and attitudes change.
For a long time, the police themselves did not want to be armed.
The most recent survey of police showed 69 per cent wanted to have guns on them at all times, not just in the boot of their cars.