Police Officer Identification
Brendon Steen made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was successful.
From: Brendon Steen
Dear New Zealand Police,
I write to request responses to two questions under the Official Information Act. The questions concern the regulations, policies or other guidelines that exist within the Police with respect to the wearing of unique identifying information, either as part of the Police uniform or otherwise (included in this are what are commonly called 'badge numbers' and are worn by uniformed Police employees on the shoulder).
Question 1:
What supplementary forms of evidence of identity, in terms of s 96(4) of the Policing Act 2008, are currently in use within the Police for Police employees who would be generally regarded as 'uniformed officers'? For the avoidance of doubt, this question does not seek information about the identification documents described in reg 4 of the Policing Regulations 2008.
Question 2:
What regulations, policies, or other internal guidelines exist concerning the supplementary forms of evidence of identity referred to in Question 1, and what is their content?
I thank you for your time and your help with this request.
Yours faithfully,
Brendon Steen
From: MCMAHON, Teresa
New Zealand Police
Dear Brendon Steen
I refer to you request dated Sunday 3 June asking for information about
police identification.
Section 12(1) of the Official Information Act 1982 states that:
"Any person, being—
(a)A New Zealand citizen; or
(b)A permanent resident of New Zealand; or
(c)A person who is in New Zealand; or
(d)A body corporate which is incorporated in New Zealand; or
(e)A body corporate which is incorporated outside New Zealand but which
has a place of business in New Zealand,—
may request a Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation to make
available to him or it any specified official information".
Police therefore asks that you provide an address or other advice to show
you satisfy section 12 of the Official Information Act. Police will then
prepare a response to your information request.
You have the right to complain to the Ombudsman if you are not satisfied
with this response.
Teresa McMahon
Police National Headquarters
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
From: Brendon Steen
Dear Ms McMahon,
As I am sure you are aware, the service that I elected to use to submit this request to your organisation - fyi.org.nz - is designed in such a way that all correspondence between the requester and the organisation from which information is requested is publicly available on the internet. I chose this mechanism deliberately as I believe my question is one in which there is some degree of public interest. There is arguably also some public interest in the identity of requesters, and that is why I have put my full name to me inquiry.
While I have no real objection to providing my address to you, there is certainly no public interest in me doing so in a way which makes the information available to all on the internet. I will contact you directly at what I presume is your email address - [email address] - to provide the requested information. I would appreciate it if you would acknowledge receipt of that message by reply to this one.
I should also mention, with respect, that I have some doubts about your stated reason for requesting my address. I do not believe that you could have any reason to doubt my eligibility under s 12 to make a request for information, and can only conclude that your request is in fact aimed at frustrating the process. For that reason, I consider your request unreasonable and will be making a complaint to the Ombudsman in those terms.
Yours sincerely,
Brendon Steen
New Zealand Police
Dear Mr Steen
Your request for information has been received and is being processed.
-----Brendon Steen <[OIA #342 email]> wrote:
-----
To: OIA requests at New Zealand Police <[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: Brendon Steen <[OIA #342 email]>
Date: 03/06/2012 09:47PM
Subject: Official Information Act request - Police Officer
Identification
Dear New Zealand Police,
I write to request responses to two questions under the Official
Information Act. The questions concern the regulations, policies or
other guidelines that exist within the Police with respect to the
wearing of unique identifying information, either as part of the
Police uniform or otherwise (included in this are what are commonly
called 'badge numbers' and are worn by uniformed Police employees
on the shoulder).
Question 1:
What supplementary forms of evidence of identity, in terms of s
96(4) of the Policing Act 2008, are currently in use within the
Police for Police employees who would be generally regarded as
'uniformed officers'? For the avoidance of doubt, this question
does not seek information about the identification documents
described in reg 4 of the Policing Regulations 2008.
Question 2:
What regulations, policies, or other internal guidelines exist
concerning the supplementary forms of evidence of identity referred
to in Question 1, and what is their content?
I thank you for your time and your help with this request.
Yours faithfully,
Brendon Steen
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[OIA #342 email]
Is [New Zealand Police request email] the wrong address for Official
Information Act requests to New Zealand Police? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[1]http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[2]http://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
show quoted sections
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
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
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