More than 4000 firearms have been stolen, between the start of 2015 and November 2019 from four of New Zealand’s twelve policing districts and the cops have had their firearms stolen as well!
- In Canterbury, there were 241 thefts
2. In the Bay of Plenty, there were 228 thefts
3. In Waikato there were 207 thefts
4. In Central (North Island) there were 199 thefts
While the majority of thefts were from licence holders and businesses, the police have also fallen victim to robbers.
Between 2015 and 2019 there were six occasions where nine real and dummy firearms were stolen from or misplaced by police, of which only two were recovered.
In April 2019 Alan James Harris stole 26 firearms in police custody from the Palmerston North police station. Harris was disturbed in the act and 17 weapons were immediately recovered with the remaining guns retrieved following an investigation.
Stuff