A top policeman in New Zealand has shared advice about confronting armed fugitives following the death of father Tom Phillips.

Police Association President Chris Cahill highlighted the similarities between the hunt for Phillips, who was on the run in NZ with his three children for four years, and the ongoing search for accused cop killer Dezi Freeman.

Freeman, a 56-year-old self-proclaimed ‘sovereign citizen’, has been hiding in bushland since allegedly shooting three officers at his home in Porepunkah in Victoria’s High Country on August 26.

Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 35, and Detective Neal Thompson, 59, died, and a third officer was seriously injured while trying to serve Freeman a warrant.

Mr Cahill on Wednesday urged Australians to recognise the parallels between the search for Freeman and Phillips, who was gunned down by police on Monday.

‘I was in Australia, Victoria for the funeral of the two police officers killed over there. They’ve got similar problems hunting for the gunman in Victoria,’ Mr Cahill told Radio New Zealand.

‘Talking to my New South Wales colleagues, they had a gunman on the run for about five years. They used trail cameras to track him because he was so dangerous and the terrain is so dangerous.’

Mr Cahill explained that while the manhunt may ‘sound really easy’, officers are dealing with an allegedly dangerous man and have to ‘assume the worst’.

NZ Police have highlighted the similarities in the searches for slain fugitive Tom Phillips and alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman (pictured, a missing poster for Phillips and his children)

Dezi Freeman (pictured) allegedly shot three police officers, killing two, on August 26

‘Obviously, we would have liked a safer outcome for everyone, but Mr Phillips was the one who decided how that was going to end,’ he said.

‘There’ll be more scrutiny of that to come, but I think the outcome shows why police have been so cautious.’

Almost 500 police, trackers and specialist units have been deployed in the massive operation to find Freeman, which entered its third week on Wednesday. 

Similarly to Phillips’ case, Freeman is considered a skilled outdoorsman and is believed to be hiding in deep, remote bushland.

His eldest son, Koah, last week told The Australian his father had the skills to survive in the bush for an extended time. 

‘I’m not sure if you have ever seen the movie Rambo, especially the first Rambo movie, it’s like that but 10 times capacity,’ he said.

‘The Mount Buffalo National Park is his second home. He’s been there since he was 16 just going hiking in places no man has ever stepped foot in.

‘At this stage, I think he’s probably deceased. I haven’t got any explanation for that, but at this stage, to have no trace, it’s a bit unbelievable.’

Police have spent more than two weeks searching dense bushland for Freeman (pictured, officers searching a property)

Freeman’s eldest son, Koah (pictured), admitted his father had the skills to survive in the bush for an extended time

However, Koah on Monday admitted his father could already be dead. 

He was trying now to get back to some form of ‘good’ normality in the wake of the horror and move on with his life while the search continues.

‘I’m still in the heat of it. I’ve just accepted the worst, that’s it,’ Koah told Daily Mail.

‘I’m doing regular s***, going back to work and stuff to take my mind off it.’ 

Police have already searched more than 100 properties in the surrounding towns and received hundreds of tips since announcing a $1million reward for information leading to Freeman’s arrest.