24 March 2023
IR-01-23-5743
Simon Hibbert
[FYI request #21912 email]
Dear Simon
I refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 25 February 2023, in which
you ask for:
I would like to receive a list of al items lodged to PNHQ using the "NEW
ZEALAND POLICE REPORT FORM" since 1 AUGUST last year (the POL.258
form)
Please include the "subject" and "text" fields too
On 7 March 2023 we contacted you, asking for your request to be refined. In its current
format, the wording of your request is not specific enough to narrow down which iteration
of PNHQ you are referring to, and this combined with the potential volume of the material
you are seeking makes undertaking a manual search unfeasible.
As we have not received a response to that email, your request is refused under section
18(f) of the OIA as the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
This decision is based on the fol owing factors.
a. The Pol.258 report form is one of, if not the most widely used form in New
Zealand Police and thousands of these forms are generated and distributed
throughout the organisation each year.
b. The forms can be distributed electronically or in in hard copy format, and no
external search function was built into these forms to enable identification of the
intended recipient without physically viewing the individual documents.
c. Furthermore, the term “PNHQ” in your request is ambiguous and could refer to
either the Police National Headquarters physical building situated at 180
Molesworth Street in Wellington where more than 800 Police employees are
situated, or it could refer to the Police National Headquarters workgroup which is
made up of multiple business and operational units located in different physical
locations throughout the country and has over 6000 individual positions
associated to it.
Police National Headquarters Wel ington P O Box 3017 Wel ington 6140
www.police.govt.nz
If you are not satisfied with my response to your request, you have the right to refer the
matter to the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
David Kirby
Detective Inspector
Police National Headquarters
