Management of the Dec 2019 Whakaari/White Island Erution Response (2)
Alan Thompson made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was successful.
From: Alan Thompson
Dear New Zealand Police,
In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were not the Lead Agency for the Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for, rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised to you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence.
NEMA have now advised that they were not the Lead Agency and that Bay of Plenty Emergency Management Group (BOPEMG) were the lead.
Examination of the daily Incident Action Plans (IAPs) produced by the Lead Agency (BOPEMG) identify that the incident was variously recorded as:
1. A “joint response with NZ Police”;
2. A “joint operation with NZ Police”.
3. That “NZ Police are coordinating recovery and reconciliation”;
4. “Police (independent response) were Lead Agency for rescue and reconciliation functions”
The daily BOPEMG IAPs include no other references to the planning, resources, tasks or other operations that NZ Police undertook with respect to the search, rescue and recovery functions of the response. The IAPs only address the logistics and welfare functions that BOPEMG undertook.
It would seem then that your response to my OIA (your ref IR-01-20-2005) may not be correct in that these records clearly identify NZ Police as the Lead Agency for the major component of the response (the search, rescue and recovery). This was a multi-agency response requiring the Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) to by implemented (eg as per Pike River).
In light of the apparent error in your response I would like to re-submit my Official Information Request for your further consideration and further response/confirmation.
Alan Thompson
NZ Resident
Lower Hutt
From: Alan Thompson
Dear New Zealand Police,
In my OIA I have made a typo in the first paragraph which I wrote as:
"In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were not the Lead Agency for the Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for, rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised to you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence."
This first para should have read:
In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were the Lead Agency for the Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for, rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised that you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence.
My apologies for this error. Can you please note the correction as set out above in your response.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Thompson
From: Alan Thompson
Dear New Zealand Police,
I am concerned that you have not acknowledged the OIA as above that I submitted via FYI on 17 March 2020 as is your usual practice. Can you please confirm that you have my OIA and will respond in accordance with the timeframe as required by the Official Information Act.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Thompson
NZ Resident
New Zealand Police
Dear Mr Thompson
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request
below. Your request is being actioned pursuant to the Act.
Kind regards
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Alan Thompson" <[FOI #12461 email]>
Date: 17/03/2020 02:42PM
Subject: Re: Official Information request - Management of the Dec 2019
Whakaari/White Island Erution Response (2)
Dear New Zealand Police,
In my OIA I have made a typo in the first paragraph which I wrote as:
"In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were not the Lead Agency for
the Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for,
rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised
to you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its
prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the
CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence."
This first para should have read:
In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were the Lead Agency for the
Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for,
rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised
that you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its
prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the
CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence.
My apologies for this error. Can you please note the correction as set
out above in your response.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Thompson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #12461 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[1]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-----"Alan Thompson" <[FOI #12461 email]>
wrote: -----
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Alan Thompson" <[FOI #12461 email]>
Date: 17/03/2020 10:39AM
Subject: Official Information request - Management of the Dec 2019
Whakaari/White Island Erution Response (2)
Dear New Zealand Police,
In response to an OIA dated 21 Jan 2020 NZ Police advised that the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were not the Lead Agency for
the Whakaari/White Island eruption response which included the search for,
rescue and recovery of victims of the tragedy. NZ Police further advised
to you were “a service operating to support the Lead Agency using its
prescribed command and control practices which are aligned to fit with the
CIMS framework”. You referred this OIA to Civil Defence.
NEMA have now advised that they were not the Lead Agency and that Bay of
Plenty Emergency Management Group (BOPEMG) were the lead.
Examination of the daily Incident Action Plans (IAPs) produced by the Lead
Agency (BOPEMG) identify that the incident was variously recorded as:
1. A “joint response with NZ Police”;
2. A “joint operation with NZ Police”.
3. That “NZ Police are coordinating recovery and reconciliation”;
4. “Police (independent response) were Lead Agency for rescue and
reconciliation functions”
The daily BOPEMG IAPs include no other references to the planning,
resources, tasks or other operations that NZ Police undertook with respect
to the search, rescue and recovery functions of the response. The IAPs
only address the logistics and welfare functions that BOPEMG undertook.
It would seem then that your response to my OIA (your ref IR-01-20-2005)
may not be correct in that these records clearly identify NZ Police as the
Lead Agency for the major component of the response (the search, rescue
and recovery). This was a multi-agency response requiring the Coordinated
Incident Management System (CIMS) to by implemented (eg as per Pike
River).
In light of the apparent error in your response I would like to re-submit
my Official Information Request for your further consideration and further
response/confirmation.
Alan Thompson
NZ Resident
Lower Hutt
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #12461 email]
Is [New Zealand Police request email] the wrong address for Official
Information requests to New Zealand Police? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[2]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
show quoted sections
From: Alan Thompson
Dear New Zealand Police,
Under the guidelines for the Official Information Act your reply to my request was due by the 17th of April. This reply is now overdue.
Can you please advise the reason for the delay and when I can expect your this information. Please note that given the subject matter of my request I would not expect any delay to be due to need to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Thompson
New Zealand Police
Good afternoon Mr Thompson. Im sorry that you haven't received your
response yet. I have forwarded your email to the business group
responsible for preparing your request and asked that they be in touch
with you directly.
Kind regards Megan
-----"Alan Thompson" <[FOI #12461 email]>
wrote: -----
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Alan Thompson" <[FOI #12461 email]>
Date: 23/04/2020 10:00AM
Subject: Re: OIA Request Acknowledgement IR-01-20-8787- Management of the
Dec 2019 Whakaari/White Island Erution Response (2)
Dear New Zealand Police,
Under the guidelines for the Official Information Act your reply to my
request was due by the 17th of April. This reply is now overdue.
Can you please advise the reason for the delay and when I can expect your
this information. Please note that given the subject matter of my request
I would not expect any delay to be due to need to respond to the Covid-19
pandemic.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Thompson
show quoted sections
New Zealand Police
Kia ora Alan
Please find attached the response to your correspondence of 17 March
2020.
Police's response to Covid-19 has had a severe impact on our ability to
respond to your request in a timely manner. We appreciate this will be
frustrating for you, and we thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
===============================================================
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
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request