A defence expert says there was some public misinformation about police Armed Response Teams.

The teams have been scrapped after a six month trial in Canterbury, Waikato and Counties Manukau.

Massey University's John Battersby told Kate Hawkesby the Response Team model was taken from the UK.

"They have dedicated armed trained officers available and ready to deal with armed incidents, and the reason they have them there is so the bulk of the rest of the police forces can remain unarmed."

But Battersby agrees militarising the police is something we should try to avoid

"We've seen in the United States where the police forces have been militarising for quite some time. It paints a very opaque picture of policing as not an accessible one."