Face of the Day

Oops of the Day

Chris Cahill, president of the NZ Police Association, said while police officers are human and will make mistakes, the gun incidents were very serious. “It’s not good enough and the officers involved would be very embarrassed.”

, and Good Oil Staff

19 May 2025 . 6:30 AM

1 min read

A member of the public found a police Glock pistol on the side of the road after it had been left on the roof of a police car, which was driven away. Image credit: John Harford.

Police items left in public after being placed on patrol car roofs and forgotten include guns, breathalysers, notebooks, documents, cellphones and a laptop. Senior journalist Nicholas Jones reports.

A police Glock pistol was found by a member of the public, after it fell from the roof of a police car where it had been mistakenly left.

Using the car roof as a place to rest objects and then forgetting they were there accounted for a number of police items left in public, including guns, breathalysers, notebooks, documents, cellphones and a laptop.

The disclosures have been made by police in response to an Official Information Act request from Stuff, asking for details of incidents where material or items were mistakenly left unaccompanied in public. [...]

Cases include:

* Two incidents when a firearm was placed on the roof of a police car, and was still there when the car was driven away, falling onto the ground. In one case, the Glock was found 100m up the road from a police station by a member of the public.

* Tasers being left in public, including when a constable found one of the powerful stun guns outside a police station, where it had been left for about an hour.

* Dozens of cases of police notebooks and other physical notes and documents left in public. In one case, a member of the public found police investigation notes on the roadside, and in another a folder with documents was left on a police car roof and fell off when it was driven.