IR-01-22-32142
23 December 2022
As Van Wey
[FYI request #20880 email]
Tēnā koe As
Request for Information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 17 October 2022, in which you
sought information relating to issuing formal warnings. You requested the following information:
1. I request the number of "warnings" issued by the police in luie of taking any other action
against an al eged offender (e.g., charging or prosecution) and for which the alleged offender
had not admitted to the al eged offence, for the dates
(a) between 1 January 2009 and 1 April 2021, inclusive; and
(b) between 2 April 2021 to the date in which you action my request.
2. Of the number of "warnings" which issued in request (1)(a), the number of the instances in
which ALL references to the "warning" were removed from the Police database.
3. Of the number of "warnings" which issued in request (1)(b), the number of the instances in
which ALL references to the "warning" were removed from the Police database.
4. Of the number of "warnings" which issued in request (1)(a), the number of instances in which
the Police contacted agencies and individuals to make a correction that there was no such
warning, as such a warning has been deemed unlawful by the High Court.
5. Of the number of "warnings" which issued in request (1)(b), the number of instances in which
the Police contacted agencies and individuals to make a correction that there was no such
warning, as such a warning has been deemed unlawful by the High Court.
I have considered your request and offer the fol owing response.
Background and information
Formal Warnings are a resolution option used by Police as an alternative to prosecuting
offenders through the Courts, a process that is recognised as often being time consuming and
costly. Common Law allows Police the discretion not to prosecute al identified offenders,
because it is not in the public interest to do so. The criminal justice process recognises that
not every offender identified by Police requires to be prosecuted for every possible offence.
Formal Warnings replaced Pre-Charge Warnings (PCW) as an alternative resolution option on
1 May 2020.
Effectively, Formal Warnings are used to hold individual(s) to account as offender(s), for minor
offending, in situations where there is no ‘
Public Interest’ in proceeding through the formal
Court process. The ‘Public Interest Test’ is set out in the Solicitor General’s Prosecution
Guidelines. It is based on the premise that there “wil be circumstances in which, although the
evidence is sufficient convict an individual, the offending (and related circumstances) is not
serious in nature - and prosecution is not required.”
Further information on prosecution guidelines can be accessed through the link below:
https://www.crownlaw.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Prosecution-Guidelines/ProsecutionGuidelines2013.pdf
Formal Warnings are intended to be an effective mechanism for holding an individual to
account and deterring them from repeat offending. A Formal Warning is recorded on an
individual’s Criminal Record history, a process that acknowledges that the offence was
appropriately dealt with.
Further information on formal warnings can be accessed through the links below:
https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/formal-warnings-130722.pdf
Number of warnings recorded where the person did not admit responsibility Police National Intelligence Application (NIA) does not have a specific field to record whether the
person identified as an offender admitted responsibility for the offence as required by Formal
Warning policy.
The information you have requested is not readily available for data col ection and analysis. While the
Information may be found within the narrative of the recorded offence, retrieving that information
would require a manual review of al files. To that effect, question 1 of your request is refused
pursuant to section 18(f) of the OIA - as this information cannot be made available without
substantial collation and research.
Number of warnings which have been removed
Police is guided by the National Recording Standards which is the overarching recording policy
for Police. In general, information should not be deleted or removed from NIA. Deletion of
information can occur when:
• Carried out by authorised people and;
• The action of removing that data or record is necessary to ensure that information held
by Police is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and maintained in accordance with
Polices' policy.
In addition, information may be amended or removed by appropriately authorised individuals
(acting with the approval of the Service Journey & Systems Manager, Service Group) in order to
protect identifiable individuals from personal risk or life-threatening situations.
Note: The approach is not intended to prevent the timely deletion of data, records or information
entered in error or by accident e.g. removing links between the wrong core objects, replacing
incorrect narrative entries or deleting erroneous charges, where those errors occur in the
process of creating initial Files, Offences or Occurrence (records).
Where such a removal action occurs, NIA does not usual y contain any ‘history’ (tracked record)
of that transaction. Therefore, we are unable to say how many of those transactions have
occurred.
Questions 2 and 3 of your request are therefore refused pursuant to section 18(e) of the OIA -
as the information requested does not exist.
Number of instances Police made contact with agencies and individuals regarding an incorrect
formal warning recording
If and when a situation arises where contact is required with individuals and agencies regarding
an incorrect issue of a Formal Warning, Police wil use various ways to make contact as
appropriate for that particular situation. This can be done by sending a word document
attachment, within the body of an email, or through other means.
This information is not necessarily stored and/or attached to the relevant case, therefore a
manual review would be required to determine the number of records where this has occurred
while acknowledging that not all records wil be updated with this information.
Questions 4 and 5 of your request are therefore refused pursuant to section 18(f) as this
information cannot be made available without substantial col ation and research.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Naku noa, nā,
Mere Wilson Tuala-Fata
Director
Prevention: Innovation & Change
Iwi and Communities
