This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Official Information request
'Search warrants'.
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street, PO Box 3017, Wellington Phone +64 4 474 9499 19 May 2020 David Morris-Bamber By email: [FYI request #11920 email] Dear Mr Morris-Bamber REQUEST FOR INFORMATION I refer to your online message to Police of 20 February 2020, replying to the Police response to your Official Information Act request of 19 December 2019. You now ask: 'Have considered your response and believe that my questions/request have not been addressed. Possibly my wording could have been clearer, as
- If a search warrant is issued for a vehicle, is the legal owner notified that the vehicle has been seized, or are they left in the dark, and to who is the search warrant physically issued/handed to for seizure of the vehicle.
- Can you the New Zealand Police stop the owner of a property 'from being there while a search is being carried out.' Your questions are not significantly different from your original Official Information Act request, and the Police response remains the same. Police do not hold documentation that directly relates to your request, and it is therefore refused pursuant to Section 18(g) of the Official Information Act 1982. Police are not required to create documentation for the purpose of responding to an information request, where this information does not already exist. You may wish to make a more specific request for information that is held by Police. However, Police are likely to refuse a request for information pursuant to Section 18(da)(ii) of the Official Information Act 1982, where a request is made on behalf of a defendant and the information either could be sought or has already been disclosed under the provisions of the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008. We note that your information request may directly relate to a case currently before the Courts, and could properly be directed to the Police Officer in Charge of that case, or through the lawyer acting for the defendant. I would be happy to discuss this with you, if you provide Police with your contact telephone number.