The Police Commissioner has reiterated that the accused Christchurch mosques attacker was not on anyone's radar, and Mike Bush has promised police will keep working to ensure such a terrorist attack never occurs again.
Mr Bush was asked in an interview for tonight's Q+A programme if he as Commissioner ever foresaw an attack of this nature in New Zealand.
"I think we'd be very naive even pre-this to say it could never occur in New Zealand," he replied.
"But we all work towards that. And this has occurred, and we will continue to work to ensure that never occurs again. But no one anywhere ever says never."
Asked did he feel let down by New Zealand's intelligence agencies, Mr Bush said they work as hard as police "to make sure that these things don't happen and never occur again".
He said police have been on record to say "that the particular person who [allegedly] carried out this horrific event was not on our radar, as far as we know not really or ever on anyone's radar".
Fifty-one people died and 49 were injured in shootings at two Christchurch mosques on March 15.
Mr Bush said police have returned to routine unarmed police service following the attack, "but our staff have immediate access to any tactical options that they require".
On the question of whether police should be routinely armed, the Commissioner said that's a decision he makes with the police executive, backed up by evidence.
"And the evidence that we had brought to the table as recently as this week tells us - because we are an evidence-based policing service - that being armed does not make you safer," Mr Bush said.
The Police Commissioner appears on Q+A on TVNZ 1 tonight at 9.30pm.
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