The Otago Daily Times requested details under the Official Information Act of tactical items that had been considered or procured in the past year.
Police were awaiting final delivery of 194 Brugger and Thomet GL06 40mm launchers, which can be used for firing tear gas and sponge rounds.
The launchers will replace the Heckler and Kotch 69A1 40mm launcher, used by armed offenders squads and the special tactics group. The new launchers were first considered in August 2021.
Sponge rounds were first introduced in 2015, as a
less-lethal tactical option.
Out of all reported uses of the weapons, 54% resulted in injury to the subject, 65% of which required medical treatment and 15% required hospitalisation.
Sponge rounds could be more widely deployed in the future, after delegates at the Police Association’s annual conference last month endorsed a motion to campaign to have them placed in every frontline supervisor’s car.
More widespread deployment would bridge a gap between Tasers and firearms, the delegates said.
Police do not include tear gas in its tactical operations framework and it is not approved for crowd control.
New rifles were on the way, 669 M4-style rifles being bought from Lewis Machine Tools, the same manufacturer who supplies rifles to the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). None have yet been delivered.
A police spokeswoman was unable to comment on if the rifles were the same pattern as those used by the NZDF.
The new rifles would would be used by frontline staff, specialist groups and for training, and were intended as a stopgap measure as the Bushmaster M4 rifle used by police was no longer available, the spokeswoman said.
The rifles had different maintenance systems, but were interoperable in terms of magazines, aiming systems, ammunition type, operating controls, size and performance.
There would be no changes to the training required to use them.
The response also confirmed police were working with a supplier of another tactical option, subject to a non-disclosure agreement.
The weapon was a less-lethal option that could be introduced to all front-line police.
A review of evidence around tactical and safety training, released in July 2022, indicated a programme to upgrade police Tasers was ongoing and subject to commercial confidentiality agreements between Axon and police.
Police also procured about 200 high-volume pepper spray dispensers in the past year, an option they first considered in 2013.
