New Police Commissioner Andy Coster says he is "happy to mend whatever bridges need to be mended" when asked if he would apologise to Māori over the Armed Response Team trial (ART).
The six month trial ended on April 26, but drew criticism for taking place in areas with large Māori populations including Counties Manukau. It was also rolled out in the Waikato and Canterbury.
Mr Coster told TVNZ 1's Q+A he has ruled out implementing the team.
"My commitment going forward is to consult well on initiatives that go to the heart of our style of policing," he said.
Q+A host Jack Tame asked why the team was implemented in communities with large numbers of Māori and Pasifika people - if the reason behind the ART trial was due to the Christchurch terrorist attack.
"March 15 was part of the context, but the overall intent with the ART was to make sure we have the capability to deal with high end firearms incidents," Mr Coster said.
"The environment has been changing over some years, particularly the prevalence of gang members carrying firearms. I don't believe there was an intent to particularly target communities, but I fully understand that was the way some communities felt."
On why the trial was not stopped when there were concerns in December by police that the ART could be seen as disadvantaging Māori, Mr Coster said "the moment it became clear we had some real risks around certain communities, that's an opportunity to reflect".
"One of the reasons we brought forward the announcement of the decision (to scrap the ART) before we've got a fully peer reviewed evaluation, was the recognition it was causing distress.
"We always need to be open to feedback."
However, the trial did not end until April 26. On why it did not end sooner, Mr Coster, who took up his position on April 3, said it seemed like there "could have been an opportunity".
"I said very clearly when I started the role I intended to await the evaluation, the trial had stopped at that time. We were basically looking at what are the next steps around the evaluation."
"I believe we've done the right thing in being very clear that this thing's not coming out any further. If Māori communities believe an apology is due, I am happy to mend whatever bridges need to be mended. "
Mr Coster said the relationship between police and Māori had "definitely been affected in some way".
"The strength of feedback that we'd had has been very significant."
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