Police are buying $30 million of new, much-longer-range tasers - without the body-worn cameras they need to keep a check on their use.

They have won approval from the government, even without being sure where the law sits on using the cameras that attach to an officer's chest and are operated wirelessly.

When the new Taser 10s are rolled out in December, it will be the first time tasers are used in New Zealand without having an assured way of recording all footage of any conflicts.

Police told the minister Ginny Anderson two external legal experts were "comfortable" with this so long as bodycams got looked at in time.

But "there will be differing views on whether police should be operating tasers without the camera technology", they said.

"There also needs to be consideration of whether the current legislative framework would adequately support the use of BWC technology by police."

Police have been debating body-worn cameras (BWC) use since at least 2019.

They warned the minister in late July they had just days to order the new Taser 10 model from US maker Axon or hit a replacement deadline of 4 August.

The Taser 10 was more effective at incapacitating people, they told her.

It can fire 13m, versus the current Taser X2's 7.5m, and has 10 prongs.

The ministerial briefing shows police bought the entire global supply of the old, out-of-production Taser X2 and their inbuilt cameras in 2022 as a stopgap, but these were now running out (the tasers rely on cartridges).

"The police executive's decision to progress with procuring the Taser 10 product without BWCs is likely to generate interest across some communities and in media," the briefing said.

Police had discussed the rollout without cameras with the minister previously "to ensure that frontline staff continued to have the appropriate tools for the job".

Bringing in cameras needed "careful consideration".

An inconclusive report on that was done by police in 2020.