Police Manual chapters relating to sponge rounds

Mark Hanna made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police

The request was partially successful.

From: Mark Hanna

Tēnā koutou,

In April 2022, I requested a list of Police policy documents (ref IR-01-22-11586). Police released a list of “all Police Manual chapters” as of 11 May 2022 [1]. This list included a chapter called “Use of Force - eXact Impact QX1006 (Less lethal option)”.

However, I see that on 8 June 2022 NZ Police released a Police Manual chapter under the OIA with the title “eXact Impact XM1006” (ref IR-01-22-6084), which was extracted on 5 May 2022 [2]. This Police Manual chapter did not appear in the list as of 11 May 2022, even though that list was extracted between the date on which the “eXact Impact XM1006” chapter was printed and when it was released under the OIA.

This has left me confused as to what policies NZ Police has in place regarding the use of eXact Impact QX1006 and/or eXact Impact XM1006 sponge rounds.

Please release the following information:

1. A list of all Police Manual chapters in the “Use of Force” section.

2. All versions of the “eXact Impact XM1006” Police Manual chapter, including:
2a. The date on which it the version came into effect
2b. The date on which the version ended
2c. Whether or not there is a current version of this Police Manual chapter, or if it is no longer in effect.
2d. If this Police Manual chapter is still in effect, its next planned review date

3. All versions of the “eXact Impact QX1006 (Less lethal option)” Police Manual chapter, including:
3a. The date on which it the version came into effect
3b. The date on which the version ended
3c. Whether or not there is a current version of this Police Manual chapter, or if it is no longer in effect.
3d. If this Police Manual chapter is still in effect, its next planned review date

4. The licence under which this information is released.

If possible, I would prefer that the information be released under the Creative Commons Attribute 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0) [3], which is recommended under the NZGOAL framework [4]. Cabinet has invited NZ Police to take NZGOAL into account when releasing copyright material and non-copyright material to the public for re-use [5].

Please provide this information in an accessible, searchable format without a watermark.

If any information needs to be withheld from the document, please ensure this is not done in a way that makes the surrounding content (such as other content on the same page) inaccessible.

Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna

[1] https://fyi.org.nz/request/19200-police-...
[2] https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default...
[3] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/...
[4] https://www.data.govt.nz/toolkit/policie...
[5] https://www.data.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/...

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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police

Tēnā koe Mark
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request below, received by New Zealand Police on 26 July 2022.

Your request is being actioned pursuant to the OIA. You can expect a response to your request on or before 23 August 2022.

Kind regards, Dylan
Ministerial Services PNHQ

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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()

A response to this request was due no later than yesterday. I have laid a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding this unlawful delay.

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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police

Kia ora Mark

I can confirm that a response to your request is being drafted and will then progress through our internal consultation process. I am unable to confirm a release date at this stage.

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.

Ngā mihi

Julián (he/him)
Ministerial Services Advisor
NZ Police National Headquarters Wellington
If you’re wondering about the use of pronouns in email signatures, you can find more information here about how sharing pronouns can help create a sense of belonging and respect.
                   

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From: Mark Hanna

Tēnā koe,

It has been over two weeks now since the legal deadline for this request passed, and I have still not received Police's decision. I'm sure this is not a situation that Police wants to find itself in, however you have a duty to uphold the law.

Please send Police's decision regarding my request through as soon as possible. If there is some reason why this decision cannot be communicated to me today, please give me an indication of how much longer Police expects to continue this unlawful delay.

I have laid a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding this unlawful behaviour.

Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna

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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police

Mōrena

I have contacted our workgroup working on your response and can confirm that a response to your request is being drafted and will then progress through our internal consultation process. They are closing some loops on the final version of the response before it can be reviewed.
I am unable to confirm a release date at this stage.

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.

Please feel free to provide the Ombudsman with the police reference number for this response (IR-01-22-22024).

Ngā mihi

Julián (he/him)
Ministerial Services Advisor
NZ Police National Headquarters Wellington
If you’re wondering about the use of pronouns in email signatures, you can find more information here about how sharing pronouns can help create a sense of belonging and respect.

________________________________________
From: Mark Hanna <[FOI #20027 email]>
Sent: 08 September 2022 15:49
To: Ministerial Services
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Response delay IR-01-22-22024

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.

Tēnā koe,

It has been over two weeks now since the legal deadline for this request passed, and I have still not received Police's decision. I'm sure this is not a situation that Police wants to find itself in, however you have a duty to uphold the law.

Please send Police's decision regarding my request through as soon as possible. If there is some reason why this decision cannot be communicated to me today, please give me an indication of how much longer Police expects to continue this unlawful delay.

I have laid a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding this unlawful behaviour.

Ngā mihi,
Mark Hanna

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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police


Attachment image006.png
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Attachment 01 Mark Hanna IR 01 22 22024 response.pdf
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Attachment 02 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 1 Redacted.pdf
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Attachment 03 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 2 Redacted.pdf
514K Download View as HTML

Attachment 04 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 3 Redacted.pdf
546K Download View as HTML

Attachment 05 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 4 Redacted.pdf
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Attachment 06 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 5 Redacted.pdf
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Attachment 07 eXact Impact XM1006 Version 6 Redacted.pdf
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Tēnā koe Mark                                  

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 26 July 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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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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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()

NZ Police has previously released the current version of this Police Manual chapter under the OIA, but the information that was withheld in that previous release has very little overlap with the information withheld from NZ Police's response here.

The other version is published on the NZ Police website, and archived on policepolicy.nz:

https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publ...
https://policepolicy.nz/policies/use-of-...

This seems to me like a pretty clear indication that NZ Police's decision to withhold so much information under section 6(c) of the OIA was not justified. I will be complaining to the Ombudsman.

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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police


Attachment eXact Impact XM1006 Redacted.pdf
213K Download View as HTML

Attachment Mark Hanna IR 01 22 22024 Ombudsman review response.pdf
369K Download View as HTML


Kia ora Mr Hanna

 

Please find attached a revised OIA response to IR-01-22-22024.

 

Kind regards, Michelle

Ministerial Services Advisor - Police National Headquarters

===============================================================

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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