Surveillance of "courtsiders"

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police

The request was partially successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear New Zealand Police,

On February 16, 2015 the media reported that NZ police had taken action against "courtsiders" at cricket world cup events. A police spokesperson was quoted as saying that "We've got a list of some people we're watching ... We know what to look for", that plainclothes police had been trained in spotting courtsiders, and that police were monitoring social media for evidence ("Cricket betting cheats evicted", Stuff, Feb 16 2015). I would like to request the following information under the OIA:

* Is courtsiding a crime under New Zealand law? If so, under what statute?
* All information relating to surveillance of any courtsiders, including training material, what social media accounts of keywords were monitored, and all communications to and from the police about it;
* The total cost of the anti-courtsiding operation.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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New Zealand Police

Dear Alex,

Thank you for your email. I have forwarded your email to the team who
handles OIA requests.

Kind regards,

PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM
NZ POLICE
JC

-----Alex Harris <[OIA #2507 email]> wrote:
-----

To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Alex Harris <[OIA #2507 email]>
Date: 18/02/2015 02:00PM
Subject: Official Information Act request - Surveillance of
"courtsiders"

Dear New Zealand Police,

On February 16, 2015 the media reported that NZ police had taken action
against "courtsiders" at cricket world cup events. A police spokesperson
was quoted as saying that "We've got a list of some people we're
watching  ...  We know what to look for", that plainclothes police had
been trained in spotting courtsiders, and that police were monitoring
social media for evidence ("Cricket betting cheats evicted", Stuff, Feb
16 2015). I would like to request the following information under the
OIA:

* Is courtsiding a crime under New Zealand law? If so, under what
statute?
* All information relating to surveillance of any courtsiders, including
training material, what social media accounts of keywords were
monitored, and all communications to and from the police about it;
* The total cost of the anti-courtsiding operation.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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Liam left an annotation ()

You'll be lucky to get a peep out about this one. Probably get a s 6(c) response.

I also considered what authority Police had to undertake this operation and hope that they at least answer your first question.

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Thomas Roberts left an annotation ()

Every single article on the subject answers the first question... "While courtsiding is not illegal in New Zealand, it is a breach of the terms and conditions of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 tickets."

And how are they even supposed to tell you the cost of the courtsiding operation? It will just be part of their general Policing duties at the matches.

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From: Alex Harris

Dear New Zealand Police,

FYI is reporting that it has not received a response yet to my OIA request of 18 February for information on the police response to "courtsiding". The FYI website was down between March 14 and April 11; if you responded to my OIA request during that period, could you please resend the response?

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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Liam left an annotation ()

Still no response?

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Alex Harris left an annotation ()

This has now gone to the Ombudsman.

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From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police


Attachment harris alex 12 1658 17 reply.pdf
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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
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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Alex Harris left an annotation ()

This has now gone back to the Ombudsman.

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Liam left an annotation ()

Poor response (question 2), and no explanation for excessive delay.

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From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police


Attachment Harris Alex reply 220116.pdf
462K Download View as HTML


Dear Mr Harris

I have been asked to send you the attached further reply to an information
request you made to Police I February 2015.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Teresa McMahon

Ministerial Services

Police National Headquarters

PO Box 3017

Wellington

 

 

 

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

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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