New Zealand says armed police patrols initiated after mosque shootings will end

New Zealand is dropping a trial of armed police patrols proposed after last year’s mosque shootings in Christchurch, police commissioner Andrew Coster announced Tuesday. 

“It is clear to me that these response teams do not align with the style of policing that New Zealanders expect,” Coster said in a statement.

Today I announced that Armed Response Teams will not be a part of our model of policing in New Zealand.

You can read more here: https://t.co/iMaqQosfNF pic.twitter.com/K1Bo8DJUBT

— Andrew Coster (@NZPCommissioner) June 9, 2020

New Zealand Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson has been one of the main voices in opposition to the Armed Response Teams, claiming the move will lead to U.S.-style militarized police force. 

In a blog post, Davidson used the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died during a Minneapolis police arrest May 25, as an example of the dangers of overly arming police. 

“We only have to look to the United States to see how violent things can get under a militarized police force,” she said in an open letter to Coster, according to CBS News. “This is especially so for minorities and communities of color.”

Coster said Tuesday the police would stay “generally unarmed” and operate with public support.

“How the public feels is important — we police with the consent of the public, and that is a privilege,” he said.

The U.S. system of policing has come under scrutiny again after Floyd’s death. Instances of police violence have been documented at multiple demonstrations protesting police brutality in the last two weeks. 

The self-avowed white supremacist involved in the March 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism this year.