Dear New Zealand Police,

Re: Official Information Act Request

Please would you supply me the following details relating to Speeding Infringement Offences, Detection Equipment and Notices?

1. Please confirm that the Police are required to prove Speeding Infringement Offences to the Criminal Standard of Beyond Reasonable Doubt, not merely to the Civil Standard of On the Balance of Probabilities.

2. Please identify the nature of all vehicle speed detection and enforcement systems and equipment currently being used by NZ Police, for the detection of Speeding Infringements and the relied upon in the issuance of Speeding Infringement Notices against vehicles, allegedly speeding on New Zealand roads.

3. Please state the proven and certified accuracy of each of these systems. For example, one brand of mobile, van-mounted Microwave Radar based Speed Camera system has a certified accuracy of plus or minus 1 km/h.

Please report the relevant accuracy for each system in question in these terms, AND, if given, as a percentage of the indicated speed, according to the data supplied by the equipment manufacturer, and confirmed by routine calibration. Please be sure to include the speed ranges which apply to the stated accuracy (or accuracies), or vice versa, whichever is more appropriate. Certificates of Accuracy for each type of equipment in use would be sufficient to answer this question.

4. Please explain why the Police Infringement Bureau (and therefore the NZ Police as a whole) are evidently in the habit of issuing Speeding Infringement Notices for alleged offences which the NZ Police's own evidence cannot prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt?

To elaborate, when a speed of, for example, 61 km/h is registered, in a 50 km/h Speed Zone, by Speed Detection Camera equipment with an accuracy of plus or minus 1 km/h, why is the Infringement Notice issued for the speed of 61 km/h when this speed cannot be proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Reasonable Doubt says that there is a 33% probability of the speed being 60 km/h, and this is surely therefore the maximum speed that can be proven to this standard of proof, in this example. Please explain why the Police are not respecting this standard of proof by issuing the notices for 61 km/h in this instance.

5. Please supply detailed data for the year ended 31 December 2014 (or similar or later date if more convenient) for all Speeding Infringement Notices issued for the following excess speeds, using only equipment which has a certified accuracy of plus or minus 1 km/h (i.e. +/- 1 km/h). Please state the types of equipment included within this data set.

Speeding Infringement Notices issued where the alleged speed exceeds the posted speed limit by exactly the following amounts:

* 11 km an hour
* 16 km an hour
* 21 km an hour
* 26 km an hour
* 31 km an hour
* 36 km an hour

To elaborate, for example in a 50 km/h zone, data for each speed, for speeds of exactly 61, 66, 71, 76, 81 & 86 km/h, similarly 71, 76, ... km/h for a 60 km/h zone, etc. Please include all relevant infringement notices for the period.

6. Please supply data for the same year period as in (5), for ALL speeding Infringement notices arising from the same equipment, for speeds in the ranges listed below:

* not more than 11 km an hour
* more than 11 km an hour but not more than 16 km an hour
* more than 16 km an hour but not more than 21 km an hour
* more than 21 km an hour but not more than 26 km an hour
* more than 26 km an hour but not more than 31 km an hour
* more than 31 km an hour but not more than 36 km an hour

Please itemise these numbers according to each stated speed range.

I confirm that I am a New Zealand citizen, permanently residing in New Zealand.

I look forward to your comprehensive response.

Yours faithfully,

Alan Candy