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Terms of reference - Independent Review - Systems and processes that prevent and respond to bullying

Date Published: 
October 2019

New Zealand Police has commissioned an independent external review of its systems and processes to address complaints of bullying. The review is expected to provide a clearer picture of what is working well, and to identify any areas where improvements may be needed, benchmarked against positive workplace standards which apply across the public service.

National Wastewater Testing Programme Quarter 3 2019

Date Published: 
October 2019

Results are now available for the third quarter of nationwide wastewater testing, which covers around 80% of New Zealand’s population.

The drugs that have been tested for are methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, MDMA and fentanyl.

Key findings – May 2019 - July 2019

  • Average weekly use of the detected drugs in Q3 has an estimated street value of $8.9 million. This is estimated to generate approximately $464 million of criminal profit annually.

Methamphetamine

  • Methamphetamine remains the most commonly detected illicit drug nationwide, with approximately 15kgs consumed on average each week.
  • Detected average methamphetamine use translates to an estimated 19 million dollars ($19,328,400) per week in social harm. Annually, this could equate to more than $1 billion ($1,005,076,800).
  • Methamphetamine use is most prevalent per capita in the Northland Police District, followed by Eastern District (Hawke’s Bay).

MDMA

  • MDMA was the second most commonly detected illicit drug across the country, with an estimated consumption rate of 7.9kg on average each week.
  • MDMA use is most prevalent in Southern District (Southland) closely followed by Tamaki Makaurau.

Cocaine

  • Cocaine was detected in low quantities, approximately 907g on average each week. This indicates a much smaller user base and likely reflects less demand and supply associated with the drug.
  • Cocaine use is significantly more prevalent in the Auckland region (per capita) than anywhere else in the country.

Fentanyl

  • Overall Fentanyl consumption averaged 1g per week.
  • The apparent prevalence of fentanyl in Northland Districts, compared to other districts, must be viewed with caution as the detected average usage across all testing sites is extremely low.
  • The aim of testing for fentanyl is to establish a baseline of consumption so, over time, Police and the Ministry of Health can determine any fluctuations in the consumption. A baseline for consumption remains unclear at present.
  • As fentanyl has only been tested for very recently, it is too early to draw conclusions about what proportion of the fentanyl in wastewater is illicit.

Heroin

  • Heroin was not detected at any of the testing sites between November 2018 and July 2019. This is consistent with other indicators that the opiate user population in New Zealand is very low.

Proactive release of petition 2014/51 of Gary William Roberts

Date Published: 
October 2019

On 20 August 2019 the Cabinet Legislation Committee approved the Government response to Petition 2014/51 of Gary William Roberts. Ministers accepted the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee recommendation not to amend the Accident Compensation Act 2001 to extend cover for psychological harm of former members of the Police and Defence Force, and instead agreed for Police and the Defence Force to consider support on a case-by case basis for those not covered by either Act.

 

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Proactive release of the Privacy Commissioners Letter to the Prime Minister relating to privacy implications of firearms reform

Date Published: 
October 2019
  • As the Arms Legislation Bill was being developed, Police progressed policy on firearms information sharing. Police developed briefings setting out information sharing proposals that were submitted to six Ministers with Power to Act on policy for the Arms Bill. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was, as is usual in policy on information sharing, involved in the policy development for the Bill.
  • During this process the Privacy Commissioner raised concerns in a letter to the Prime Minister about the direction of information sharing policy. In particular, his concerns related to the proposed provisions for Direct Data Access for several agencies and the proposed policy around health practitioners’ access to information.
  • The Minster of Police, Acting Deputy Commissioner Andrew Coster and the Privacy Commissioner met to discuss options that the Commissioner considered better satisfied privacy concerns.
  • Following the discussions amended proposals were set out in a briefing to Ministers with Power to Act. That briefing and the draft Bill were consulted with the Privacy Commissioner. The resulting policies are now included in the Arms Legislation Bill currently before Select Committee.

 

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Annual report on Police data quality 2019

Date Published: 
October 2019

Recording and coding of crime and incident reports by Police staff is subject to constant scrutiny. In addition to local assurance checks, key dimensions of data quality are regularly monitored at the national level, as part of a focus on ensuring consistent application of New Zealand Police’s National Recording Standard and case management process. Specific audits of crime recording and coding decisions are also undertaken as part of a comprehensive, national, Data Quality Audit Plan.

This report highlights findings from the 2018/19 Data Quality Audit Plan, covering the period from July 2018 to June 2019.

Arms Legislation Bill Commentary

Date Published: 
October 2019

On Friday 13 September, the Minister of Police Hon Stuart Nash introduced an amendment to the Arms Act 1983 – the Arms Legislation Bill. The following document is a commentary on the Arms Legislation Bill. It is intended to simplify and explain the changes to the Arms Act that the Bill proposes, such as the inclusion of a new purpose statement, the registration of firearms and their dealings, strengthening the licensing system, enhanced regulatory tool, and other amendments that will support the arms regime.

Proactive release of papers relating to the development of the Arms Legislation Bill

Date Published: 
January 2020

On 13 September 2019 the Minister of Police Hon Stuart Nash introduced an amendment Bill to the Arms Act 1983 titled the Arms Legislation Bill.

The following papers include advice on options which were provided to Ministers and Cabinet to support the development of the Arms Legislation Bill.

Additionally, some of the papers below are re-released papers that had been previously proactively released with redactions. These papers are now being released with some information unredacted. There is also a paper relating to the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines and Parts) Amendment Bill that was previously unreleased.

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Key to sections of the Official Information Act 1982 under which information has been withheld.

Certain information in the document has been withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

  • Information is withheld under section 6(b) where making it available would be likely to prejudice the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by any other country.
  • Information is withheld under section 6(c) where making it available 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.
  • Information is withheld under section 9(2)(a) to protect the privacy of natural persons.
  • Information is withheld under section 9(2)(ba)(i) to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to be supplied.
  • Information is withheld under section 9(2)(f)(iv) in order to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
  • Information is withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) in order to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions.
  • Information is withheld under section 9(2)(h) in order to maintain legal professional privilege.

Cabinet papers and related documents

Advice to Ministers and related documents

Cost Recovery Impact Statement - Proposal to amend fee setting provision the Arms Act 1983

The following document is a Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS) for the proposal to amend the fee setting provision in the Arms Act 1983. The CRIS intends to provide support for, and recommend an amendment to, the Arms Act 1983 to modernise the fee-setting provision and provide certainty about the services that can be charged for. The CRIS does not seek agreement on what the levels for the cost recovery should be.

Re-released papers

Previously unreleased paper

Approved Information Sharing Agreement between Police and Registrar-General

Date Published: 
December 2019

This Approved Information Sharing Agreement enables the sharing of registered death, registered name change and non-disclosure direction information between the Registrar-General, Births, Deaths and Marriages and New Zealand Police.

The parties to the Agreement, who can share this information are:

  1. New Zealand Police
  2. Registrar-General, Births, Deaths, and Marriages

The Agreement will come into force on 24 October 2019.

The Agreement was approved under the Privacy (Information Sharing Agreement between Registrar-General and New Zealand Police) Order 2019.

Regulatory Impact Statement

This Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) has been prepared by New Zealand Police.

It provides an analysis of options for Police to improve the accuracy of the identity information held by Police in its national database of identity information, known as the National Intelligence Application (the NIA), relating to registered name changes, registered deaths, and non-disclosure directions. This is balanced against analysis of the need to provide for appropriate protection of individuals’ privacy and ensure a proper level of security and transparency when sharing such information.

The analysis in this RIS focuses on:

  • why Police holding inaccurate or incomplete information can impact on Police’s ability to efficiently and effectively provide public services (including the maintenance and enforcement of the law); and
  • why an Approved Information Sharing Agreement (AISA) is the preferred mechanism for Police obtaining access to accurate and up-to-date information regarding registered name changes, registered deaths, and non-disclosure directions. 

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