Last weekend Tasers, otherwise known as as "stun guns", made their debut in the South Island.
Not before time, many would say, given the alarming frequency with which police men and women have been assaulted in recent months.
The latest incident came in the early hours of Saturday morning when a group of youths attacked two police officers in the Waikato town of Ngaruawahia, leaving them with moderate to serious injuries.
This follows three attacks last month, one in Oamaru when a police officer stopped a driver suspected of being over the alcohol limit.
On Saturday night in Invercargill, a similar result may have occurred when police who had been attending a brawl were confronted by a man wielding a weapon - but for the deployment of the Taser.
Then, on Sunday, Dunedin police who had attempted to negotiate with a knife-wielding woman in Mosgiel also, eventually, resorted to the stun gun.
This time its use appeared to be occasioned not so much by concerns over their own safety but by the apparent imminent threat of self-harm.
Not everyone is enamoured, however, of the distribution and deployment of the stun guns.
The first use in the South coincides with a call from the United Nations Human Rights Committee to withdraw the weapons.
The Government of New Zealand, it said, "should consider relinquishing the use of electro-muscular disruption devices" and ensure officers used stun guns only when they would otherwise need to shoot to kill.
The committee appeared to base its reasoning on the fact that the Tasers could cause life-threatening injuries and severe pain.
The committee's view on police deployment of hand guns - which regularly not only cause life-threatening injuries and severe pain, but actually do kill people - is not recorded.
Nor does there appear to be any constructive advice forthcoming on how, precisely, police are supposed to deal with drunk, drugged or otherwise crazed individuals who pose an evident risk to the life and health of law enforcement officers, but also to members of the community.
As has been suggested, the committee's thinking on such matters appears to be devoid of any of the context and harsh reality that faces the police every day in this country.
The introduction of Tasers - which deliver a 50,000V electrical pulse, temporarily disabling the target - in New Zealand has proceeded since trialling was implemented in 2006 and 2007 in the North Island.
Earlier this month, the first batch of Southern police completed training in their use.
Now, 72 weapons have been allocated to the Southern district, with Southland acquiring 26, Dunedin-Clutha 24, Otago rural area 19, with three reserved for training purposes.
Up to 300 officers in the district are to be trained in their use by the end of June - with strict conditions surrounding their deployment.
The guns can only be used after permission from a senior sergeant or incident commander; the weapons have inbuilt video and audio devices to record the circumstances in which they are "fired"; and an operational review must be completed following each incident.
The New Zealand Police Association has long been a supporter of the Taser, which it says offers a sensible alternative to verbal persuasion, a hand-held baton, or pepper spray, when the level of threat or violence requires it.
Our police are increasingly vulnerable to assault while on duty, and with regularisation of lethal weaponry regarded by most people as likely to escalate the number of fatalities among criminals, bystanders and police themselves, the Taser seems a sensible alternative.
That said, its use as a last resort should be emphasised.
Following the Mosgiel incident, Dunedin emergency response commander Inspector Alastair Dickie said: "The Taser was the best and most appropriate tactical option available as the use of capsicum spray could be ineffective or delayed in such circumstances ..."
There is no reason to doubt the validity of such an assessment, but the revelation that on this occasion the police were dealing with a woman with mental health problems, and the action was taken to safeguard her own wellbeing, might conjure up unhelpful speculation as to the necessity of using the stun gun.
It is critical, then, for the maintenance of public confidence, that the post-deployment reviews are carried out promptly, and the results made public.
