Police are spending $30 million replacing their old Tasers, which have built-in cameras, with new Taser 10s, which have no cameras.
The police opted not to roll out body-worn cameras for officers, which was common in police forces in other countries.
Police say their position on body-worn cameras remains unchanged. They've been thinking about introducing this for years.
In a statement, police said they would not release details of the exact numbers of the new Tasers for “operational reasons.”
“A small number of the previous X2 Tasers will remain in each district until the transition is complete.”
Feedback from local iwi, health workers, councils and the wider public was that this was an operational decision and that it was 'important to see whether implementation would impact current levels of use of force compared to [the] previous taser model”.
The Taser replacement program was one of four aimed at improving frontline safety in 2022-2023.
A second was the introduction of a 'Tactical Armor System' for the 17 armed offenders – $6.4 million was spent on new body armor in 2022-2023.