IR-01-24-15690
17 July 2024
A Margaret
[FYI request #26657 email]
Tēnā koe A Margaret
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 7 May 2024. You
asked for the following:
1) Please provide all Police District Thresholds that Police use before it reaches
the relevant investigations workgroup, IE doesn't meet $ value amount for retail
theft etc so they file the relevant case and don't investigate it due to not meeting
threshold.
2) Please provide it for all types of offences and all Districts.
3) Please provide information if these Thresholds are different per District and
why?
4) Please provide who exactly decides these Thresholds?
Police triage reports using various methods and for many files, this includes the
completion of an Initial File Assessment (IFA). The IFA score is a numeric value derived
from a series of weighted factors which gives an indication of the “solvability” of the case,
based on the presence or absence of certain key lines of enquiry.
To calculate the IFA score, the assessor reviews the file to determine the which of the
following factors are present and uses the IFA function within the National Intelligence
Application (NIA) Case screen, to calculate the final score. The factors considered are:
Degree of suspicion
•
No suspect. (No idea who is responsible) Score = 0
•
Potential suspect. (an identifiable person could be responsible) Score = 2
•
Nominated suspect. (Someone believes a specific person is responsible) Score
= 5
•
Confirmed offender (an identifiable person is known to be responsible) Score =
10
Suspect description/identity
•
No description/identity. Score = 0
•
General description - non specific. Score = 2
•
Detailed description – unique features. Score = 5
•
identity known or Forensic match = 7
Vehicle
•
No detail. Score = 0
•
Description only. Score = 1
•
Description and partial registration. Score = 2
•
Full registration and matching description. Score = 7
Once scores are derived for each factor, the sum of the three scores provide the overall
IFA score for the case. The initial file assessment process is designed to identify those
cases which are suitable for Early Case Closure (ECC) without further investigation.
Only Category 4 – Volume Crime Cases are eligible for IFA and ECC. Al other categories
must be forwarded to investigation units for calculation of case rating and prioritisation
before a decision is made on closure.
If a file is filed due to insufficient information or lines of enquiry, this wil be reassessed if
further information is provided later. Regardless of whether a file meets the threshold for
further assignment, Districts can look and re-assess any file at any given time whether it
is in a filed or active state.
The Initial File Assessment threshold is set under Police’s Case Management Policy
and are monitored by the Assurance and Service groups.
Information you have requested in regard to specific thresholds has been withheld under
section 6(c) of the OIA, where the making available of that information would be likely to
prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and
detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial.
Please note that as part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Police
proactively releases some information and documents that may be of interest to the
public. An anonymised version of this response may be publicly released on the New
Zealand Police website.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied
with Police’s response to your request. You can find more information at
https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Yours sincerely
Ash Lowe
Director – Service
New Zealand Police
