IR-01-24-32529
21 October 2024
Kathy Hurst
[FYI request #28382 email]
Dear Kathy
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request received 13 September 2024,
in which you requested information about Police Informants in the Nelson / Tasman region.
You specifically requested:
1. The number of paid police informants in New Zealand?
2. The number of paid police informants living/lived in Nelson and Tasman districts?
3. How much has been spent on police informants:
A. From Nelson in the last 10 years?
B. From Tasman in the last 10 years?
C. From New Zealand in last 10 years?
Police do not release details of informant numbers national y or by district, or payments to
informants by district, as the release of specific information about the Police Informer
programme would pose a risk to the integrity of the programme and could adversely affect the
ability to recruit and manage Informers, therefore questions 1, 2, and 3 a and b of your request
are refused under section 6(c) of the OIA, as the making available of the information is likely to
prejudice the maintenance of the law including the prevention, investigation and detection of
offences and the right to a fair trial.
Police can however release the total amount of payments made to informants national y each
year, which is provided in the fol owing table:
Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
Financial Year
Amount paid
to informants
2013/14
$301,772
2014/15
$207,159
2015/16
$156,362
2016/17
$136,502
2017/18
$92,543
2018/19
$70,714
2019/20
$130,082
2020/21
$214,227
2021/22
$123,043
2022/23
$140,783
2023/24
$255,310
4. How is cost calculated and approached/discussed? Eg how do you determine how
much to pay an informant? How does information get provided to you? Does arrest or
conviction have to occur in order for payment? Is payment taxed?
The amount paid to an informant is established by a panel of Police staff specifical y involved in
the management of informants and their information. The amount is then reviewed by a Senior
Police Officer with budgetary responsibility. The remainder of this question is refused under
section 6(c) of the OIA, as the making available of the information is likely to prejudice the
maintenance of the law including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences and the
right to a fair trial.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied with the
way I have responded to your request. Information on how to do so is contained on the fol owing
site - www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Yours sincerely
Acting Detective Superintendent Shona Low
Interim Director: National Criminal Investigations Group
