Most recent Taser videos
Liam made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was refused by New Zealand Police.
From: Liam
Dear New Zealand Police,
This is a request for information, made under the provisions of ss4 and 5 of the Official Information Act 1982 (“the Act”). I therefore would like the following information;
1.Taser footage from 3 separate incidents since 1 July 2014, from each of the 12 Districts. That would mean there should be 36 files all together. There should be no issues with the protection of person(s) privacy as I only require 3 sets of footage from a large sample in each district. Please provide those that will not be refused for privacy reasons. If they files are too big for reply email, please send the files in multiple return emails.
I remind you that if you consider refusing this request under s 18(f), then you should, as soon as possible ask me to refine my request to a number of footages that can be processed.
Further, I do not consider that a refusal under s 18(d) would be appropriate because I want to compare different footage from different Districts and I cannot do that to footage already publicly available.
Please CONFIRM receipt of this email to prevent unnecessary follow-up emails and extensions requested.
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As required by s12(1) of the Act, I am a New Zealand citizen. I will provide confirmation of this, if required. However, since all of our correspondence will be published on the FYI.org.nz site, I will only do so over the phone or email, with which you provide. This would only be for the purpose of citizenship confirmation, and nothing further related to this request.
As required by s12(3) of the Act, I shall provide reason(s) why this request should be treated as URGENT. The questions above raise important issues of accountability of the Government, its departments and agents. Any and all information provided as a result of this request could and may be published either by the writer online to a wide audience or passed onto media outlets for publication so that the public can be kept informed on important issues of transparency.
As required by s13(c) of the Act, if this request “has not been made … to the appropriate department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or local authority”, it is your duty to give reasonable assistance to me to direct my request to the appropriate department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or local authority.
Further to the above statutory requirement, under s14 of the Act, if the information I seek is either not held or you believe it is more closely connected with another department or Minister of the Crown or organisation, or of a local authority you shall promptly, and in any case not later than 10 working days after the day on which the request is received, transfer the request to the other department or Minister of the Crown or organisation, or to that local authority, AND inform me accordingly.
As required under s15A of the Act, if you believe that a time extension is warranted for this request, you must under ss15A(2),(3) and (4) give notice to me of this extension within 20 working days after the day on which my request was received. In that notice, you should state; the period of the extension, give reasons for the extension and remind me of my right to complain to the Ombudsman under s28(3). Finally, the extension must be for a reasonable time, having regards to the circumstances.
As required by s18B of the Act, you must consider consulting me before refusing my request under the provisions of ss18(e) and (f) which relate to a document not being able to be found or existing or where substantial collation and research would be required for my current request.
As required by s19(a)(i), you must provide reasons if you refuse any parts of this request.
I will, if required, complain to the Ombudsman, as is my right under s28(3) of the Act, if any of the above statutory requirements on you are not complied with. Further to this, if your reply is not “as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days after the day on which the request is received” as required under s15(1) of the Act, I will also complain to the Ombudsman.
This request is made through the site FYI.org.nz. All correspondence will be automatically forwarded to me through the site and published online immediately. I require, where appropriate, all electronic copies of all documents in your response. For more information on how the site works, please visit www.fyi.org.nz/help/about.
Yours faithfully,
Liam Stoneley
New Zealand Police
Dear Liam,
Your request has been passed on for processing.
Kind regards,
PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM
NZ POLICE
mca
-----Liam Stoneley <[OIA #2475 email]> wrote:
-----
To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Liam Stoneley <[OIA #2475 email]>
Date: 07/02/2015 12:08AM
Subject: Official Information Act request - Most recent Taser videos
Dear New Zealand Police,
This is a request for information, made under the provisions of ss4 and
5 of the Official Information Act 1982 (“the Act”). I therefore would
like the following information;
1.Taser footage from 3 separate incidents since 1 July 2014, from each
of the 12 Districts. That would mean there should be 36 files all
together. There should be no issues with the protection of person(s)
privacy as I only require 3 sets of footage from a large sample in each
district. Please provide those that will not be refused for privacy
reasons. If they files are too big for reply email, please send the
files in multiple return emails.
I remind you that if you consider refusing this request under s 18(f),
then you should, as soon as possible ask me to refine my request to a
number of footages that can be processed.
Further, I do not consider that a refusal under s 18(d) would be
appropriate because I want to compare different footage from different
Districts and I cannot do that to footage already publicly available.
Please CONFIRM receipt of this email to prevent unnecessary follow-up
emails and extensions requested.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As required by s12(1) of the Act, I am a New Zealand citizen. I will
provide confirmation of this, if required. However, since all of our
correspondence will be published on the FYI.org.nz site, I will only do
so over the phone or email, with which you provide. This would only be
for the purpose of citizenship confirmation, and nothing further related
to this request.
As required by s12(3) of the Act, I shall provide reason(s) why this
request should be treated as URGENT. The questions above raise important
issues of accountability of the Government, its departments and agents.
Any and all information provided as a result of this request could and
may be published either by the writer online to a wide audience or
passed onto media outlets for publication so that the public can be kept
informed on important issues of transparency.
As required by s13(c) of the Act, if this request “has not been made …
to the appropriate department or Minister of the Crown or organisation
or local authority”, it is your duty to give reasonable assistance to me
to direct my request to the appropriate department or Minister of the
Crown or organisation or local authority.
Further to the above statutory requirement, under s14 of the Act, if the
information I seek is either not held or you believe it is more closely
connected with another department or Minister of the Crown or
organisation, or of a local authority you shall promptly, and in any
case not later than 10 working days after the day on which the request
is received, transfer the request to the other department or Minister of
the Crown or organisation, or to that local authority, AND inform me
accordingly.
As required under s15A of the Act, if you believe that a time extension
is warranted for this request, you must under ss15A(2),(3) and (4) give
notice to me of this extension within 20 working days after the day on
which my request was received. In that notice, you should state; the
period of the extension, give reasons for the extension and remind me of
my right to complain to the Ombudsman under s28(3). Finally, the
extension must be for a reasonable time, having regards to the
circumstances.
As required by s18B of the Act, you must consider consulting me before
refusing my request under the provisions of ss18(e) and (f) which relate
to a document not being able to be found or existing or where
substantial collation and research would be required for my current
request.
As required by s19(a)(i), you must provide reasons if you refuse any
parts of this request.
I will, if required, complain to the Ombudsman, as is my right under
s28(3) of the Act, if any of the above statutory requirements on you are
not complied with. Further to this, if your reply is not “as soon as
reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days
after the day on which the request is received” as required under s15(1)
of the Act, I will also complain to the Ombudsman.
This request is made through the site FYI.org.nz. All correspondence
will be automatically forwarded to me through the site and published
online immediately. I require, where appropriate, all electronic copies
of all documents in your response. For more information on how the site
works, please visit www.fyi.org.nz/help/about.
Yours faithfully,
Liam Stoneley
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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
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From: MCMAHON, Teresa
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
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Liam left an annotation ()
Complaint to Ombudsman:
I wish to complain regarding a OIA response I received from the New Zealand Police on the 6th March 2015.
I make most requests for Information through the FYI.org.nz website. All correspondence in regards to this request can be found at the below link:
https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/2475-most...
Police have refused to release Taser footage to me under three grounds. I accept the third point under s 18(f) and I would be happy to refine my request.
I do not agree with the other two grounds.
If a person is tasered in public, footage can surely not be "private" and be withheld under s 9(2)(a). I understand there are concerns around one's personal information, but if I was a by-stander in public and recorded the tasering, there would be little one could do to prevent me from publishing.
I have read decision 290369, which explains some reasoning with regards to this case, but I request you further look at whether it is in the public interest to see a random selection of taser footage, in order to hold the Police to account.
I seek your guidance on this issue. It would be near impossible to hold Police to account with regards to taser abuse, if the public cannot have access to footage, albeit blurred identities. It is vital to a true democracy that the public should be able to view information that is in the public interest, filmed in public and where the individual does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
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