IR-01-22-3246
4 March 2022
Joshua Rogers
[FYI request #18454 email]
Dear Joshua Rogers
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 5 February 2022, in which you
asked for information about Hamilton shoplifting data. You requested the following:
“I am requesting the data on Police attendance, response and outcomes for cases
relating to shoplifting jobs (4320 - Theft ex Shop) in Hamilton City from the period of
01/01/2018 - 05/02/2022
Specifically I request an excel spreadsheet with the following columns:
•
Date & Time of the event
•
CARD event number
•
Initial Job code
•
Officer attended? (Y/N)
•
If attended, how long it took for the unit to go 10-7 from initial call.
•
Outcome (E.g. K9, K1, K6 etc.)”
You clarified via email on 11 February 2022 that you only wanted this information for calls made
to 111. You were advised that Police does not capture whether individual events are entered
from 111 or other phone lines. I can confirm that we are unable to provide this information as
per section 18(e) of the Official Information Act 1982 - the information requested does not exist.
As advised via email on 14 February 2022, we interpret that the intent of your request could be
met by providing the requested information for urgent shoplifting calls for service. The enclosed
data is based on events that were assessed as ‘Priority 1’ (immediate threat to life or property)
at any point. See the Excel spreadsheet for further parameter detail.
You will notice that just over half of the shoplifting events are recorded as ‘not attended.’ The
data is drawn from a dynamic system (CARD) whose purpose is to facilitate a Police response.
As it is not intended to be a reporting tool, there are some limitations, and I would like to take
this opportunity to provide further explanation.
In the attached, ‘not attended’ means that Police did not see the complainants or informants at
the time. Most of these were followed up by non-emergency communicators who took detailed
reports over the phone. These reports were then passed to local Police who may have
investigated further, including attending later.
Further analysis of unattended events also identified that in most cases incident details were
broadcast for all units in the area to keep a look out for, and if a unit was available, they would
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
conduct active patrols for the offending person and/or vehicle. Units sometimes needed to divert
to other incoming emergencies before being able to see the complainant.
I take it from the language of your request that you are familiar with Police processes, however I
hope that this explanation still provides useful insight. If you have any further questions, you
may contact Police at the email address previously used to communicate with you regarding
this request.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied with the
response to your request. Information about how to make a complaint is available at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Yours sincerely
Inspector Marianne Whitfield
Prevention Manager: Emergency
New Zealand Police
