Investigation of electoral offences

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear New Zealand Police,

Today Newstalk ZB reported that police had not prosecuted any of the 113 alleged breaches of the Electoral Act referred to them by the Electoral Commission over the last three years ("Electoral Act breach figures surprise Collins", 2 July 2014). I would like to request the following information under the OIA:

* How many staff are currently assigned to investigate these offences?
* How many hours have they spent on the investigations in the past year?
* If the police have any system for prioritising investigations, what priority is assigned to these investigations, and to Electoral Act investigations in general?

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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New Zealand Police

Dear Alex,

Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Executive
Ministerial Services team for follow-up.

Kind regards,

PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM
NZ POLICE

NB
-----Alex Harris <[OIA #1782 email]> wrote:
-----

To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Alex Harris <[OIA #1782 email]>
Date: 03/07/2014 01:16PM
Subject: Official Information Act request - Investigation of electoral
offences

Dear New Zealand Police,

Today Newstalk ZB reported that police had not prosecuted any of the 113
alleged breaches of the Electoral Act referred to them by the Electoral
Commission over the last three years ("Electoral Act breach figures
surprise Collins", 2 July 2014). I would like to request the following
information under the OIA:

* How many staff are currently assigned to investigate these offences?
* How many hours have they spent on the investigations in the past year?
* If the police have any system for prioritising investigations, what
priority is assigned to these investigations, and to Electoral Act
investigations in general?

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this
request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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From: CLINTON, Liam
New Zealand Police


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Dear Sir

 

Request for Information

 

I refer to your email dated 3 July 2014 copied below, in which you
requested:

 

 

*****

 

The purpose of this email is to notify you that Police require an
extension of time in which to respond to your request, pursuant to section
15A(1)(b) of the Official Information Act 1982, because consultations
necessary to make a decision on the request are such that a proper
response to the request cannot reasonably be made within the original time
limit.

 

Police require until 28 August 2014 to provide a substantive response to
your request. 

 

You have the right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsmen about this
extension.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Liam Clinton

 

Liam Clinton

Detective Senior Sergeant

National Criminal
Investigations Group | New
Zealand Police National
[1]http://nzpintranet/resources/Secure%20Im... Headquarters

180 Molesworth Street  I  DX
SX11149  I  PO Box 3017  I 
Wellington 6140
DDI: 04 470 7049 | Ext: 44549
| [mobile number]  I 
Email:
[2][email address]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

===============================================================

WARNING

The information contained in this email message is intended for the
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this
message or any of its contents.

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect
those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in
error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

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From: Alex Harris

Dear CLINTON, Liam,

Thanks for letting me know about the extension. But who are the required consultations with? And is there any part of the request which does not require consultation?

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: CLINTON, Liam
New Zealand Police

Alex

We are required to advise you of any extension prior to the initial period expiring.

With annual leave and other requests I am dealing with it is unlikely that the response will be drafted and have gone through our approval process prior to the initial date of 31 July (next Thursday)

Although the extension is for a further 20 working days, that is only an outside date in this case and the final response may be sent out sooner.

Regards
Liam Clinton

Liam Clinton
Detective Senior Sergeant
National Criminal Investigations Group | New Zealand Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street I DX SX11149 I PO Box 3017 I Wellington 6140
DDI: 04 470 7049 | Ext: 44549 | [mobile number] I Email: [email address]

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From: Alex Harris

Dear CLINTON, Liam,

That doesn't sound like "consultations" at all. And it doesn't look like s15A(1)(a) applies either. But I'm happy enough to extend it by consent to make it easy on you.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: CLINTON, Liam
New Zealand Police

Good morning Alex

Sorry, on review, I realised I didn’t answer your question re consultations. The extension is pursuant to Section 15A(1)(b) not ...(a)

The consultations are mostly internal within police (Case Management Group - finalising summary information to release; National Crime Manager - whose name the response will go out under; Asst. Commissioner: Investigations & Ministerial Services - as part of the approval process). I will also be discussing our response with the Electoral Commission.

I am on leave tomorrow and aiming to have the draft response to the National Crime Manager by Tuesday, so it is unlikely it will be through the approval process and released before Thursday 31 July, hence the extension.

Sorry for any inconvenience the delay may cause you.

Regards
Liam

Liam Clinton
Detective Senior Sergeant
National Criminal Investigations Group | New Zealand Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street I DX SX11149 I PO Box 3017 I Wellington 6140
DDI: 04 470 7049 | Ext: 44549 | [mobile number] I Email: [email address]

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From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police


Attachment harris alex 12 1658 13 signed reply plus material for release.pdf
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Raewyn Thomson

Ministerial Services

Police National Headquarters

 

 

 

===============================================================

WARNING

The information contained in this email message is intended for the
addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be
subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which
creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you
are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this
message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this
message or any of its contents.

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect
those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in
error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

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