The Police Association is defending the actions of North Otago police

A man in his 60s was shot when he presented a weapon at police in his Kurow home last night - after making suicidal threats.

He died in hospital from his injuries.

Police Association president, Chris Cahill, says police deal with thousands of mental health emergencies every year, with the vast majority ending peacefully.

He says unfortunately some are a serious threat to themselves, their families, the public and police.

Cahill says crisis point suicide call outs are a mental health system failure, not police's.