Police Commissioner Mike Bush announced a trial of the new Armed Response Teams in October 2019.

A new armed police team set up to tackle violent offenders attended more vehicle stops than any other type of job in its first month on the streets.

Armed response teams (ARTs) were introduced to much fanfare in October as a rapid response unit to target increasingly aggressive armed criminals.

But data released to Stuff under the Official Information Act shows about one in four callouts were for routine vehicle stops.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF Armed response teams aren't just attending high-risk critical events, they also do a lot of routine police work.

The teams, staffed by three armed offenders squad members in a navy Holden SUV, are on trial in Counties-Manukau, Waikato and Canterbury for six months from October 2019 to April 2020.

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The uniformed officers keep glock pistols in a holster and have access to bushmaster rifles and armed offender squad kits in their vehicles.

JOHN WEEKES/STUFF Armed response teams ride in Holden Acadia SUVs. There's one vehicle in each of the three police districts at any one time.

Police stop vehicles for numerous reasons - for example following a car after a burglary, catching a person who has a warrant or simply if there were concerns with a vehicle.

The ARTs attended 524 vehicle stops in the Waikato, 82 in Canterbury and 41 in Counties-Manukau and surrounding districts. In all three districts, vehicle stops were the top callout.

Overall, Waikato had the most callouts with 1453, followed by Canterbury with 559, and a further 331 callouts in Counties-Manukau and the wider Auckland area.

TOM LEE/STUFF Police national operations support commander Inspector Freda Grace said people shouldn't be alarmed about encountering an armed response unit vehicle.

Police national manager for response and operations Superintendent Andrew Sissons said although the ARTs were prioritised to attend incidents where a "significant risk" was posed, they also attended lower priority incidents where "available and appropriate to do so".

Police operations support commander Inspector Freda Grace said ARTs responded to events where the need arose, regardless of whether an offender was armed or not.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't expect them to drive past that event would you?" she said.

STUFF Police officers in the armed response team are routinely armed with a glock pistol in a holster.

"If (the ARTs) are there, then people should take absolute confidence that they have got the right people there doing their job if it is something that is armed. I don't think that anyone should be alarmed because of a style of vehicle."

MARK TAYLOR/STUFF Gang member Jason Harder says he was stopped for by an armed response unit because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt in central Hamilton.

Mongrel Mob member Jason Harder, from Hamilton, said he was pulled over by and armed response car in January for not wearing a seatbelt.

"We were just driving through peak hour traffic," said Harder, recounting the incident.

"We see the ART in the lane next to us going the other way. He looks at me, recognises me and then jumps in, speeds around, comes back up and then pulls up and blocks us off at the side of the road.

TOM LEE/STUFF Waikato's armed response team near Kawhia after reports of gunfire in November.

"I was scared at first because I thought 'I'm a gang member - is he going to see if weapons are in the vehicle, is he going to shoot me?'

"He says 'I've dealt with you many times, you weren't wearing a seatbelt'. I said 'you spun around this vehicle to get me a seatbelt [fine] when I thought this was a special vehicle with special tasks'.

"They're designed to deployed at high-risk situations. That wasn't a high risk situation, that's picking on somebody."

Private investigator and ex-cop Tim McKinnell asked if using the armed teams for routine policing is good for communities.

Former police officer and private investigator Tim McKinnell​ said he was concerned about the use of a heavily armed police unit for routine stops.

"One of the fears of the introduction of this militarisation of routine policing is that they were going to be used quite broadly in communities and that certainly seems to be the case in Waikato.

"This is the very problem with the deployment of these roving armed teams, is that once they exist and once you're paying for them, you want to use them whether they're necessary or not.

"That's further militiarisation of policing in New Zealand and I don't think that's what communities want."

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF Canterbury's armed response team and standard patrol vehicles looking for a "person of interest" in Christchurch on October 28, the first day of the trial.

After the trial finishes in April, police will evaluate the success of the ARTs then decide if they should be introduced permanently.