Police and civilian receive bravery awards for their - New Zealand ...
Police and civilian receive bravery awards for their - New Zealand ... Police and civilian receive bravery awards for their - New Zealand ...
PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceA day in the life of the...By Deb Stringer, Communications AssistantOn 16 February 1994, father and son financiers Eugene and Gene Thomas were fatally shot at theirworkplace in the Invincible Building on The Terrace in Wellington.In 1995 John Barlow was eventually foundguilty of both murders after a third trial(the first two resulted in hung juries). Hewas sentenced to life in prison with a 14-year minimum non-parole period. He wasreleased in August last year.The key piece of evidence that workedagainst the accused was his pistol - a CZ27- which police unearthed at the Happy Valleyrubbish dump in Wellington.It was this find that led the Police ArmouryTeam to match the accused’s weapon withthe bullets found in the murdered victims,hence securing the guilty verdict.Recalling the caseSenior Police Armourer Rob Ngamoki, whohas been in the job for 30 years, remembersthe case well.“It always takes a bit of work to get yourmatch, but it is something that you workhard to achieve.“Thanks to our arms reference library wewere able to match the victim’s bullets withone of our pistols, which was a match to MrBarlow’s pistol.”Each time a bullet is fired it is left with amarking from travelling through the bore ofthe weapon it was discharged from – leavinga unique identifier which links it back to theweapon.Other memorable cases Mr Ngamoki hasworked on over the years include the trials ofDavid Bain and Antonie Dixon.Increasing workloadMr Ngamoki said the team’s workload hasbeen steadily increasing in recent years.Some cases are far more time consumingthan others.“One of the longest cases I have worked oninvolved an investigation into a dodgy armsdealer from the Waikato.• Police Armourer Terry Quirke spends a lot of time fixing weapons sent in from stationsaround the country.• Police Armourer Dan Millar using his skills to fix a broken Taser.190August 2011
New Zealand Police Association• TOP GUN: The most recent addition to the arms reference library - a .50 calibre rifle.“Police confiscated 235 firearms off theoffender, so needless to say it took us quitea long while to go through all the evidence.“That is one of the things I like most aboutthe job though – being about to finish a jobknowing that your problem-solving skillsand attention to detail help secure a guiltyverdict,” Mr Ngamoki said.Team effortThe team is housed at Upper Hutt PoliceStation, north of Wellington. The team hasfour members. An additional officer is set tojoin them in the next few months.“Although a big part of our job is to helpPolice solve homicides, we are alsoresponsible for appearing in Court, dealingwith all weapons confiscated by Police andCustoms, running information courses forPolice Specialist Squads and repairing andmaintaining the 4,000 weapons currentlyheld by the NZ Police,” Mr Ngamoki toldPolice News.To keep track of such a large array ofweapons, Mr Ngamoki established adatabase a few years ago and every yeartwo members of the team travel around thecountry to ensure each station is wellequippedand all its weapons are in goodworking order.“It’s quite a big job and can take two staffmembers away for two months of the year.Aside from this, we are also in charge oftesting and repairing any weapon which issent to us,” he added.Sophisticated weaponsMr Ngamoki said one of the biggest changeshe has seen over the years has been thegrowing sophistication of weapons.“When I first started, the weapons we wereseeing were pretty amateur. However, weare now seeing weapons, which are farmore advanced.“It seems criminals are becoming more andmore sophisticated. To combat this we runcourses on the types of weapons police maycome across when faced with an armedoffender,” he said.The Internet has proved a very useful tool forthe Police Armoury Team.“We use it a lot to carry out research onany weapons that come in. The Internet hashelped us become more efficient with ourresearching processes.”A further area of growth has been the armsreference library.“We have built up this collection to nearly3,500 weapons and in future years we mayhave to look at relocating them as spaceis becoming an issue to fit them all in,” MrNgamoki added.Try our 5 minute quizOkay, morning or afternoon tea breakhas arrived. You have your cuppa in handand you and your colleagues could dowith a quick brain workout. So appointyour quizmaster and have a go at thesequestions. The answers are under the quiz(upside down, no peeking!).1. In which of the followingcountries was canola oil originallyproduced? (A) Greece. (B) China,(C) New Zealand. (D) Canada.2. What modern vehicle was inventedto circumvent trench warfare?3. In which decade of the 20thcentury were the Oscars (Academyawards) born?4. What does the B stand for inSCUBA diving?5. Who won the Nobel Peace Prize in1964?6. What sport used the term “homerun” long before softball?7. Under which name did Americanauthor Samuel Langhorne Clemenswrite?8. A fluke is what kind of creature?9. What computer term was coinedwhen a trapped moth caused anearly computer to crash?10. What’s the largest country in theCommonwealth of IndependentStates?Scoring: 0-2 – Hmmn, room for significantimprovement (perhaps next month). 3-5Not bad, better luck next time. 6-7 – Goodeffort. 8 – Very good. 9 – Excellent. 10 –Wipe your nose, take a bow and go to thetop of the class Einstein.• A selection of Luger and other pistols, which were sent to the Police Armoury Team 30 years ago.Answers: 1. (D) Canada. 2. The tank. 3.1920s 4. Breathing (as in Self ContainedUnderwater Breathing Apparatus). 5. MartinLuther-King. 6. Cricket. 7. Mark Twain. 8. Aworm. 9. A bug. 10. Russia.August 2011191
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<strong>Police</strong><strong>New</strong>sThe Voice of <strong>Police</strong>A day in the life of the...By Deb Stringer, Communications AssistantOn 16 February 1994, father <strong>and</strong> son financiers Eugene <strong>and</strong> Gene Thomas were fatally shot at <strong>their</strong>workplace in the Invincible Building on The Terrace in Wellington.In 1995 John Barlow was eventually foundguilty of both murders after a third trial(the first two resulted in hung juries). Hewas sentenced to life in prison with a 14-year minimum non-parole period. He wasreleased in August last year.The key piece of evidence that workedagainst the accused was his pistol - a CZ27- which police unearthed at the Happy Valleyrubbish dump in Wellington.It was this find that led the <strong>Police</strong> ArmouryTeam to match the accused’s weapon withthe bullets found in the murdered victims,hence securing the guilty verdict.Recalling the caseSenior <strong>Police</strong> Armourer Rob Ngamoki, whohas been in the job <strong>for</strong> 30 years, remembersthe case well.“It always takes a bit of work to get yourmatch, but it is something that you workhard to achieve.“Thanks to our arms reference library wewere able to match the victim’s bullets withone of our pistols, which was a match to MrBarlow’s pistol.”Each time a bullet is fired it is left with amarking from travelling through the bore ofthe weapon it was discharged from – leavinga unique identifier which links it back to theweapon.Other memorable cases Mr Ngamoki hasworked on over the years include the trials ofDavid Bain <strong>and</strong> Antonie Dixon.Increasing workloadMr Ngamoki said the team’s workload hasbeen steadily increasing in recent years.Some cases are far more time consumingthan others.“One of the longest cases I have worked oninvolved an investigation into a dodgy armsdealer from the Waikato.• <strong>Police</strong> Armourer Terry Quirke spends a lot of time fixing weapons sent in from stationsaround the country.• <strong>Police</strong> Armourer Dan Millar using his skills to fix a broken Taser.190August 2011
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