Taser Policy Manual/Guidelines/chapter
Liam made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was successful.
From: Liam
Dear New Zealand Police,
I would like to request the Police Taser Guidelines and/or Manual and/or Chapter that relates to it's use by officers on the front-line. In particular, I would like the most recent and up to date version of this document.
To clarify further, what I want to find in this document is what procedure an officer needs to go through in order to wear the taser during their shift; and if they can wear it routinely or only in specific situations; and what those situations are and who determines the need or gives permission for a officer to wear that taser.
I am a New Zealand citizen as required by s12(1) of the OIA 1982.
Yours faithfully,
Liam Stoneley
From: Liam
Dear New Zealand Police,
I have not had confirmation of this request being received. This usually occurs when I have dealt with your agency before.
You are now halfway through your response period. Please confirm you understand and have received this request.
Yours faithfully,
Liam Stoneley
New Zealand Police
Dear Liam
Thank you for your email. We can confirm that this OIA had been received,
and is in the process of follow up by the relevant team.
Apoligies for not acknowledging your request when it was originally
submitted.
Kind regards,
PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM
NZ POLICE
-----Liam Stoneley <[OIA #2377 email]> wrote:
-----
To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Liam Stoneley <[OIA #2377 email]>
Date: 28/01/2015 04:52PM
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request - Taser Policy
Manual/Guidelines/chapter
Dear New Zealand Police,
I have not had confirmation of this request being received. This usually
occurs when I have dealt with your agency before.
You are now halfway through your response period. Please confirm you
understand and have received this request.
Yours faithfully,
Liam Stoneley
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[OIA #2377 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
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show quoted sections
From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police
Raewyn Thomson
Ministerial Services
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
From: Liam
Dear THOMSON, Raewyn,
Thank you for your reply.
As stated in my request, I would like the "Police Taser Guidelines and/or Manual and/or Chapter that relates to it's use by officers...". You have merely provided excerpts. I would request that you fufil this request by supplying the full "Police Instructions for Taser" Manual.
I would expect this to be carried out within the statutory timeframe of the original request, being due by Friday the 13th of this month.
Also of note, you have failed to provide any reasons why you have not provided the full manual, therefore it is my expectation that you will not reply with a refusal to supply under ss 6 or 18. If you do, I will exercise my right to complain to the Ombudsman under s 28(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Stoneley
From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police
Dear Mr Stoneley
On behalf of the Commissioner I acknowledge receipt of your further Official Information Act request of 4 February 2015.
Yours sincerely
Raewyn Thomson
Ministerial services
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From: Liam
Dear THOMSON, Raewyn,
You have failed to address this OIA request within the statutory 20
working day period.
Although not required by the Act, please consider this notice of my intention to complain to the Ombudsman under s 28(3) of the Act.
You will be able to find a copy of the complaint at the below link over the coming week:
https://fyi.org.nz/request/2377-taser-po...
Yours sincerely,
Liam Stoneley
From: Liam
Dear THOMSON, Raewyn,
The FYI website was down for some time and your reply may have been
lost in the system. Please send again within the next 5 working
days.
If I do not get a response from you within the above stated
time-frame, I will assume you have not prepared a response, and
complain to the Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Stoneley
From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police
===============================================================
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
From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police
[Subject only] RE: Your Official Information Act request of 8 January 2015 refers see attached reply
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From: Liam
Dear THOMSON, Raewyn,
I meant to the request on the 4th of February, which you acknowledged receiving. Please check the website FYI.Org.nz if you cannot find a record of this.
As previously noted, it seems as though you have plainly not replied to that request. Please address it immediately.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Stoneley
From: Liam
Dear THOMSON, Raewyn,
I will be complaining to the Ombudsman by weeks' end, if I do not hear back from you regarding this delayed response.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Stoneley
From: THOMSON, Raewyn
New Zealand Police
I am out of the office until 8 June
For work matters between please refer to Teresa McMahon
[[email address]] or Sally Duffy
From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police
Dear Mr Stoneley
Attached is the response previously sent to your FYI address on 31 March
2015. This 31 March email was not rejected and it was therefore assumed
that the information was received.
Teresa McMahon
From: MCMAHON, Teresa
Sent: Tuesday, 31 March 2015 13:46
To: '[OIA #2377 email]'
Subject: Reply to an information request
===============================================================
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
Liam left an annotation ()
I received a call today from the Office of the Ombudsman, stating that Police had sent this twice and that it had bounced (during the period the site was down).
Although I believe this to be the case (note the date of the letter), I sent two follow up emails asking for this request to be resent, to no avail.
I just wish the Police would be more open and responsive, rather than me having to go to the Ombudsman for what should have been an easy fix.
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request
Liam left an annotation ()
Complaint to Ombudsman:
I wish to make a complaint against the New Zealand Police in regards to a request I sent to them and the response I received under the Official Information Act 1982.
I send most of my OIA requests through the site FYI.org.nz. This was the case for this request as well. All correspondence is publicly available online at the link provided below. There have been no other communication regarding this request made through any other channels.
https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/2377-tase...
I have been extremely patient with this particular request, providing the Police multiple opportunities to respond with reasons for lack of a response, to no avail.
I first sent this request in January, requesting the Police Taser Manual/Guideline/chapter, in full.
The first response was within the timeframe, but only provided experts of what I requested, instead of the full document.
I then sent a "follow-up", asking for the full document, to which I received no response to. In the month of April, the fyi site was down, and it could be that the response was lost. I further asked for the response, but instead only got the original, with only experts.
I gave the Police a further 3 weeks, and two emails to rectify a lost response, but have no response.
I consider this to not be a case of "lost in the system", as I have provided multiple opportunities to respond and the Police have basically ignored my legitimate request.
I am looking for two outcomes from this complaint;
1. A apology and reason(s) for the lack of response; and
2. The full Manual, as requested.
Kind Regards,
Liam Stoneley
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