Freemasons in the police force
William Smith made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was partially successful.
From: William Smith
Dear New Zealand Police,
I would like to request all information held be the police in respect of freemasons being employed by or having influence on the police force, including (but not limited to).
1. Has the NZ police implemented a similar ban?
2. If not, what steps are in place to ensure that freemasons cannot exert favouritism or provide protection to other members? How do you ensure that no police officer who is a mason can be involved in a criminal investigation of a person who is also a mason?
3. Does the police maintain a register or other record in any form of which police officers are masons? If so, I request that you supply it in full.
4. If you do not hold such a register then nevertheless I believe the police do hold the information requested, because each police officer is aware of their own status. I request that all police officers in my region (The Far North) be asked three Yes/No questions under oath:
A. "Are you a member, or have you ever been a member of the freemasons?"
B. "Is any member of your close family or other person who has influence on you a member of the freemasons?"
C. "have you otherwise been supported or influenced by the freemasons? (eg. a scholarship/grant)"
The number of police officers in the Far North is fairly small so I do not believe there would be excessive work required to compile this information.
I note that in the UK there have been extensive investigations into serious corruption involving freemasons in the police force, including criminal gangs influencing police investigations through masonic connections. These investigations resulted in laws requiring all police officers to declare whether they are members or not. On that basis, this is a matter of serious public interest in New Zealand. see: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr...
Yours faithfully,
William Smith
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Mr Smith
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request
below, received by New Zealand Police on 24 March 2021.
Your request is being actioned pursuant to the OIA.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 23 April 2021.
Ngā mihi
Sarah
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "William Smith" <[FOI #14987 email]>
Date: 23/03/2021 09:49PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Official Information request - Freemasons in the
police force
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
the content is safe.
Dear New Zealand Police,
I would like to request all information held be the police in respect of
freemasons being employed by or having influence on the police force,
including (but not limited to).
1. Has the NZ police implemented a similar ban?
2. If not, what steps are in place to ensure that freemasons cannot exert
favouritism or provide protection to other members? How do you ensure that
no police officer who is a mason can be involved in a criminal
investigation of a person who is also a mason?
3. Does the police maintain a register or other record in any form of
which police officers are masons? If so, I request that you supply it in
full.
4. If you do not hold such a register then nevertheless I believe the
police do hold the information requested, because each police officer is
aware of their own status. I request that all police officers in my region
(The Far North) be asked three Yes/No questions under oath:
A. "Are you a member, or have you ever been a member of the freemasons?"
B. "Is any member of your close family or other person who has influence
on you a member of the freemasons?"
C. "have you otherwise been supported or influenced by the freemasons?
(eg. a scholarship/grant)"
The number of police officers in the Far North is fairly small so I do not
believe there would be excessive work required to compile this
information.
I note that in the UK there have been extensive investigations into
serious corruption involving freemasons in the police force, including
criminal gangs influencing police investigations through masonic
connections. These investigations resulted in laws requiring all police
officers to declare whether they are members or not. On that basis, this
is a matter of serious public interest in New Zealand. see:
[1]https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr...
Yours faithfully,
William Smith
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===============================================================
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
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References
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1. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr...
2. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
3. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
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From: CHETCUTI, Joseph (Joe)
New Zealand Police
Hi William,
I hope you are well.
I am just emailing with regards to your Official Information Act Request
as I am preparing a response for you. I am seeking clarification on a
specific part of your request.
Specifically, you asked:
Dear New Zealand Police,
I would like to request all information held be the police in respect of
freemasons being employed by or having influence on the police force,
including (but not limited to).
1. Has the NZ police implemented a similar ban?
Can you please confirm what is meant by this question? i.e. a similar ban
in comparison to what?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Joe
===============================================================
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
From: William Smith
Dear Joe,
Thanks for your message and I apologise for the confusion, that question got out of context after I moved the references to the UK police force to the end of the message and rewrote them.
To clarify, Question 1 is about whether the NZ police force have taken note of the investigations into corruption and the resulting measures taken in the UK or other countries, whether there has been any such investigation in NZ and whether the NZ police have implemented or considered implementing similar measures to the various measures which are (or have previously been) imposed in the UK or other countries at various times to combat corruption in relation to freemasons and other secret societies, for example either requiring a register of all freemasons to be kept (whether or not they are in the police), or requiring police officers and judiciary to declare their membership, or banning them altogether. The request is for any documents, correspondence, registers and other information in relation to any of the above.
Yours sincerely,
William Smith
From: CHETCUTI, Joseph (Joe)
New Zealand Police
Thank you for this William.
No need to apologise - I thought as much, but did not want to assume.
I will continue with my response and our Ministerial Services team will respond in due course.
Many thanks,
Joe
-----Original Message-----
From: William Smith <[FYI request #14987 email]>
Sent: Monday, 29 March 2021 12:56 PM
To: CHETCUTI, Joseph (Joe) <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: IR-01-21-9868 - Clarification sought
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Joe,
Thanks for your message and I apologise for the confusion, that question got out of context after I moved the references to the UK police force to the end of the message and rewrote them.
To clarify, Question 1 is about whether the NZ police force have taken note of the investigations into corruption and the resulting measures taken in the UK or other countries, whether there has been any such investigation in NZ and whether the NZ police have implemented or considered implementing similar measures to the various measures which are (or have previously been) imposed in the UK or other countries at various times to combat corruption in relation to freemasons and other secret societies, for example either requiring a register of all freemasons to be kept (whether or not they are in the police), or requiring police officers and judiciary to declare their membership, or banning them altogether. The request is for any documents, correspondence, registers and other information in relation to any of the above.
Yours sincerely,
William Smith
-----Original Message-----
Hi William,
I hope you are well.
I am just emailing with regards to your Official Information Act Request as I am preparing a response for you. I am seeking clarification on a specific part of your request.
Specifically, you asked:
Dear New Zealand Police,
I would like to request all information held be the police in respect of freemasons being employed by or having influence on the police force, including (but not limited to).
1. Has the NZ police implemented a similar ban?
Can you please confirm what is meant by this question? i.e. a similar ban in comparison to what?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Joe
===============================================================
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #14987 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
hide quoted sections
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Kia ora William
Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 24 March 2021.
Kind regards, Michelle
Ministerial Services PNHQ
===============================================================
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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