20 Aug 2021
Mirkyton Ummashtarte
Email: [FYI request #16313 email]
Dear Mirkyton
Request for information
IR-01-21-24299
Thank you for your request dated 6 August 2021 information in regards to the
Special Investigations Group (SIG).
You requested:
1/
Please advise as to whether the "Special Investigations Group" (SIG)
formed in 2005 continues to exist as a part of the New Zealand Police in
any capacity, such as under a different name, or folded into a different
unit with a similar remit.
2/
If the SIG has ceased to exist, please provide details on the following:
- At what date did the SIG cease to exist?
- What were the circumstances of the SIG's dissolution?
- Has a similar unit taken on the role of the SIG since its dissolution?
Similar here meaning possessing the ability to solicit informants for
investigations regarding matters of national security.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the Official Information Act
1982 (OIA).
The SIGs were renamed on 15 August 2016 to the National Security Investigation
Team (NSIT), as part of a restructure that brought those groups under a single
team and national reporting line. Other than the structural and name change,
there was no material alteration to the nature of the roles and duties undertaken
by the team. There is more detail on the functions and operation of the NSIT in
Part 8, Chapter 6, of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the
terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain on 15 March 2019, published 26
November 2020 and available on the internet here:
https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/the-report/. If you are not satisfied with the Police response to your request, you have the
right to ask the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and review of the Police
decision.
Yours sincerely,
Inspector David Kennedy
New Zealand Police
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington SX11149
Telephone: (04) 474 9499. www.police.govt.nz