National Gang List- process for initial attribution of individuals to a gang
Andrew Li made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Andrew Li to read a recent response and update the status.
From: Andrew Li
Dear New Zealand Police,
On review of the NZ Gang Intelligence Centre Approved Information Sharing Agreement referenced in a response to a previous request I made, I recognize I may have been insufficiently specific in my prior request.
The Information Sharing Agreement specifies that information on 'Gang Associations' relating to an individual may be provided by all associated agencies to the GIC*. In order to further public understanding of what might cause an individual to be 'added to the list' so to speak, I am requesting:
1) Any internal policy or guidelines regarding what the process by which an individual would be 'added to the list' as a gang member or associate, the corroboration required to take this action, and any differences in how this process would be followed, based on the reporting agency or other circumstances- for example, one expects that there would be a different process for handling a report by a police officer who arrests a gang member as they commit an assault in the course of a gang-related fight, to an email from an ACC case manager or IRD auditor suggesting that a person may be involved in a gang.
2) Summary statistics (count by agency by year, or count by agency if this is not available) on which agencies have caused individuals to be initially 'added to the list', but ONLY IF this is:
2a) Already produced as part of the GIC work product
or 2b) Readily producible from a report run against the GIC database
Yours faithfully,
Andrew
* or vice versa, but this is not relevant to my request.
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Andrew
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request below, received by Police on 16 June 2022.
Your request is being actioned pursuant to the OIA.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 15 July 2022.
Ngā mihi
Catherine
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters
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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Andrew
I refer to your request of 16 June 2022 for the following information:
The Information Sharing Agreement specifies that information on 'Gang Associations' relating to an individual may be provided by all associated agencies to the GIC*. In order to further public understanding of what might cause an individual to be 'added to the list' so to speak, I am requesting:
1) Any internal policy or guidelines regarding what the process by which an individual would be 'added to the list' as a gang member or associate, the corroboration required to take this action, and any differences in how this process would be followed, based on the reporting agency or other circumstances- for example, one expects that there would be a different process for handling a report by a police officer who arrests a gang member as they commit an assault in the course of a gang-related fight, to an email from an ACC case manager or IRD auditor suggesting that a person may be involved in a gang.
2) Summary statistics (count by agency by year, or count by agency if this is not available) on which agencies have caused individuals to be initially 'added to the list', but ONLY IF this is:
2a) Already produced as part of the GIC work product or 2b) Readily producible from a report run against the GIC database
I have been asked to advise you that Police requires an extension of time in which to respond to your request, pursuant to section 15A(1) of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). Specifically, section 15A(1)(b), 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 requires until 29 July 2022 to provide a substantive response to your request. We are endeavouring to provide this to you as soon as possible.
You have the right, under section 28(3) of the OIA, to make a complaint to an Ombudsman about this extension.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel free to contact [email address].
Ngā mihi
Brittany
Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police National Headquarters Wellington
show quoted sections
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Andrew
I refer to your request of 16 June 2022 for the following information:
On review of the NZ Gang Intelligence Centre Approved Information Sharing Agreement referenced in a response to a previous request I made, I recognize I may have been insufficiently specific in my prior request.
The Information Sharing Agreement specifies that information on 'Gang Associations' relating to an individual may be provided by all associated agencies to the GIC*. In order to further public understanding of what might cause an individual to be 'added to the list' so to speak, I am requesting:
1) Any internal policy or guidelines regarding what the process by which an individual would be 'added to the list' as a gang member or associate, the corroboration required to take this action, and any differences in how this process would be followed, based on the reporting agency or other circumstances- for example, one expects that there would be a different process for handling a report by a police officer who arrests a gang member as they commit an assault in the course of a gang-related fight, to an email from an ACC case manager or IRD auditor suggesting that a person may be involved in a gang.
2) Summary statistics (count by agency by year, or count by agency if this is not available) on which agencies have caused individuals to be initially 'added to the list', but ONLY IF this is:
2a) Already produced as part of the GIC work product or 2b) Readily producible from a report run against the GIC database
Unfortunately we were not be able to meet the extended due date of 29 July 2022.
I can confirm that your request has been compiled and is currently progressing through our internal consultation process. Although I am unable to confirm a release date at this stage, I expect you will receive a response within three days.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with a response to your query. We are endeavouring to provide this to you as soon as possible.
Many thanks, Brittany
Ministerial Services, PNHQ
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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
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Li Andrew IR 01 22 17598 Response.pdf
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Tēnā koe Andrew
Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 16 June 2022.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with this
response.
Ngā mihi
Jeremy
Ministerial Services |
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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
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From: Andrew Li
Dear Ministerial Services,
I asked about the process under which an individual would be 'added to the list'.
Your response states:
"Individuals are added to the NGL following a validation process carried out by Police
districts and national intelligence staff. The following factors are taken into
consideration when validating gang membership (patched or prospect) status:
•intelligence from operations and search warrants.
•an ‘intelligence noting’ identifying an individual wearing a patch.
•visible evidence of members wearing a patch.
•certain prominent or significant gang ‘patch’ tattoo."
I understand this is a boilerplate response for inquiries around the GIC. To make myself very clear, I asked about the process under which an individual would be 'added to the list', and this is an incomplete response.
To put things a bit more bluntly, you have a multitude of government agencies providing information to the National Gang Center.
While it would be nice to know whether you have a real process for validating 'information' or 'intelligence', I am sure you would claim it would help gangs to disclose the actual process regardless of whether you have a robust process for verifying information or not, so I don't believe you'll actually answer that comprehensively.
However, it is very relevant to the New Zealand public whether, when a non-Police entity makes claims to the Gang Intelligence Center that an individual may be associated with a gang, the validation process _always_ entails NZP staff actually cross-checking from obvious visual evidence (gang members wearing patches, tattoos, etc), or from internal Police intelligence sources, or whether it's enough for MSD or CYF workers to report that someone is a gang member or associate to the Gang Intelligence Center, and that report will be sufficient evidence to 'validate' gang association.
While it would be preferable if you could answer my question from June 16, responses to the following questions would come close:
1) Does cross checking of information provided by 'associated agencies' with other 'associated agencies' happen?
2) Where an initial report comes from an 'associated agency', does that cross checking _always_ involve intelligence/information developed by Police independent of other 'associated agencies' to confirm an individual's gang membership or association, whether from Police reports from prior to the initial report of an individual as a gang member or associate by an 'associated agency', or produced by Police as a followup to that initial report by a non-Police 'associated agency', or are claims by a single non-Police 'associated agency' or multiple 'associated agencies' about an individual considered sufficient to pass the 'validation' threshold?
3) Is confirmation from frontline Police staff required to confirm claims of gang associations?
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Li
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Andrew
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request below, received by Police on 2 September 2022, in which you ask follow up questions to a previous OIA response (IR-01-22-17598).
Your reference number is IR-01-22- 27245.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 30 September 2022 unless an extension is needed.
Ngā mihi
Sophie
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters
show quoted sections
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe Andrew
Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 2 September 2022.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with this
response.
Ngā mihi
Sarah
Ministerial Services | Police National Headquarters
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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
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
References
Visible links
1. http://www.police.govt.nz/
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