Unlocked and unaccounted for: Guns and Tasers among tactical gear lost by police
A police officer left a Taser on the roof of a patrol car – and the tactical weapon was then stolen when the vehicle stopped in traffic.
The high-voltage error is among hundreds of cases where police equipment has been lost – including tactical gear and items used during criminal investigations.
The information relates to 2024 and 2025 and was revealed to the Herald by police under the Official Information Act (OIA).
The list includes a Glock pistol – a sidearm locked in a case in every operational police vehicle – missing since 2024.
And 80 pairs of handcuffs went missing nationwide during the two-year period.
New Zealand Police operational capability manager Dave Greig said the Taser was recovered two hours and 15 minutes after it had been stolen off the roof of the officer’s vehicle last year.
A second Taser went missing last year when it was knocked from an officer’s hand during an incident. It was later recovered.
But one Taser is still listed as missing after an officer was assaulted in 2024 “and it has not been recovered”.
That same year, an officer didn’t realise a Taser had fallen from its holster until a member of the public handed it in to police.
Greig said routine audits of police equipment in 2024 and 2025 revealed 16 Tasers were unaccounted for.
All but one have been recovered.
Separate audits on police firearms in 2024 and 2025 also identified that two Glock pistols were missing. Only one was recovered.
“Regular audits are undertaken to ensure firearms are accounted for at the stations to which they are assigned,” Greig said.
Over the two-year period covered by the OIA response, 14 police-issue batons were also listed as missing or stolen.
Two were stolen from officers’ personal vehicles.
A further two batons were accidentally left behind at addresses attended by police - one was recovered.
Three batons were stolen from a police station undergoing refurbishment and later recovered, Greig said.
A further seven batons “went missing within police stations”.
Under police rules, the loss or theft of any police tactical item must be recorded by officers in a Security and Privacy Incident Register.
All such losses are then subject to internal investigations - and can lead to disciplinary action.
It’s unclear how the 80 pairs of handcuffs issued to officers went missing or were stolen in 2024 and 2025.
“Some of these were ... handed over with a person in custody and not recovered,” Greig said.
Last year, three sets of handcuffs were lost when someone escaped from custody and the cuffs were not recovered.
Other equipment used during criminal investigations reported as “lost, misplaced, stolen or found” in 2024 and 2025 included 178 mobile phones, 23 laptops, and 14 digital notebooks.
These types of devices are remotely disabled when reported as lost or stolen.
“Approximately 200” police identity badges were reported as lost, misplaced, damaged or found during 2024 and 2025.
Greig said police are rolling out an operational asset management system that would “provide a single, secure source of truth for police firearms and Tasers, among other assets, improving visibility of their location and status”.
It was gradually being introduced across police districts and has already found one firearm previously reported missing.
Police Association president Steve Watt declined to comment on the lost, stolen and misplaced items.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 34 years of newsroom experience.
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