Investigation Support Unit
Wellington District Police
PO Box 693
Wellington
19 August 2019
Mr Hugh Davenport
[FYI request #10554 email]
Dear Mr Davenport
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IR-01-19-16905
I refer to your 18 June 2019 request relating to a cycle safety post on the Wellington District
Police Facebook Page. Police responded to your request on 19 June 2019 and refused the
request in reliance on section 18(h) of the OIA. Police would like to further advise that:
• There are no internal or external communications regarding the development of the
image;
• Police hold no information on the cycling experience of persons involved in the
development of the image;
• Police did not communicate with any external persons about the development of the
image;
• Police obtained the information used to develop the image from
https://nzta.govt.nz/walking-cycling-and-public-transport/cycling/cycling-in-new-
zealand/cycle-safety/;
• Police do not hold information on how the image was intended to reduce risk to cyclists
when it did not target the road users that are the majority in causing accidents to
cyclists but note the image contained uncontroversial safety advice (see
https://nzta.govt.nz/walking-cycling-and-public-transport/cycling/cycling-in-new-
zealand/cycle-safety/); and
• Police do not hold information on whether there are future intentions to create an
image that targets car drivers.
The OIA only applies to information that is already held by Police. There is no obligation on
Police to create information in order to respond to a request. The information you sought in
this case (such as cycling experience, the creation of explanations, and information on future
intentions) is not held by Police and would need to be created in order to respond to your
request. Your request can therefore be refused under s.18(g) of the OIA.
Investigation Support Unit
Wellington District Police
PO Box 693
Wellington
Police would like to advise that the image was created by an Intel Analyst assigned to the
Wellington District Intelligence Section who operate the Wellington District Police Facebook
Page. The post was developed in less than a week as part of a theme of ‘keeping safe’ for
‘Traffic Tuesday’. The post was created by extracting key messages from the NZTA guidance
(https://nzta.govt.nz/walking-cycling-and-public-transport/cycling/cycling-in-new-
zealand/cycle-safety/ and pasting these messages over generic cycle images from Google
searches.
Your complaint to the Ombudsman in relation to this request continues to be investigated and
you may make a further complaint. Police will provide a copy of this letter to the investigator
investigating your complaint.
Sincerely
Perry Dinnan
Sergeant G578
Wellington District Police
