Over the weekend I wrote about a false claim Police made in a press release, that was also repeated by numerous media outlets, claiming to have seized an “Uzi submachine gun”.
I also wrote to Police making legitimate media inquiries:
With regards to a Police media statement issued on Friday, 11 June 2021 – 5:09 pm, and a subsequent media report at the NZ Herald, Police identified an alleged firearm as an “Uzi submachine gun”.
Please explain how the Police arrived at this conclusion, that the item described as an “Uzi submachine gun” was in fact an Uzi or a submachine gun.
What ammunition was found with this alleged submachine gun?
Could you also advise why there was no image provided of the “Glock pistol”?
Is an image of the alleged Glock pistol available, and can one be supplied? If not why not? A photo was surely taken at the same time as the other published images.
Given a Glock pistol and indeed an Uzi submachine gun are both restricted/prohibited weapons, can you please advise whether or not these items have previously been reported lost or stolen. It should be a small matter to match the serial numbers against those existing reports.
Email from Cam Slater to Police
The Police didn’t respond to my inquiry over the weekend, waiting until Monday afternoon to reply.
This was the response from the Police spokesperson:
Based on the information available at the time, Police determined one of the firearms seized to be an Uzi submachine gun.
Further analysis of all of the seized property continues, and those details will form part of the evidence put before the court.
How the firearms came to be in the defendant’s possession will form part of the ongoing investigation.
All property that was seized during the search warrant was photographed. A selection of photographs were released alongside the media statement as representative images.
As this matter is now before the Court we are unable to comment further.
ENDS
Police media spokesperson
As you can see, they have failed to answer any of the questions I legitimately asked. Worse, they have obfuscated the reply, especially the details and photographs that were missing regarding the alleged Glock pistol that they claim was seized.
They have also failed to correct their published media statement and have issued no corrections to other media outlets who have perpetuated their mistake.
Rather than admit their claims were misleading at best, or outright false, they appear to have doubled down.
Little wonder that confidence and trust in the Police continues to head south.
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