Northland state highway roadblocks
Grant Carroll made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
The request was partially successful.
From: Grant Carroll
Dear New Zealand Police,
Last Wednesday, 25th March, online news media and television news bulletins reported road blocks being set up by former MP Hone Harawira and supporters at two sites on state highways in Northland to block tourists entering the Far North to protect locals from the spread of coronavirus. Police were clearly seen being involved in the setting up of these checkpoints and were said to be vetting motorists as they travelled through them.
These events occurred before New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4 or a State of National Emergency was declared.
Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982 I would like to ask:
1) Was the setting up of these road blocks lawful and if it was what legislation or New Zealand law permits this? If they were unlawful what police action is being taken against those involved in setting them up?
2) What was the role of the police officers involved with the checkpoints?
3) It was also stated that police Far North Area Commander, Inspector Riki Whiu, visited at least one of these roadblocks - what orders or advice was given by him to the police officers involved with the checkpoints?
I confirm that I am a New Zealand citizen resident in New Zealand.
Many thanks for your help with this.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
New Zealand Police
Dear Grant.
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request
attached.
Police are needing to redeploy staff in the face of unprecedented
circumstances as we respond to Covid-19. This will have a severe impact on
our ability to respond to requests for information under the Official
Information Act 1982 and Privacy Act 1993 in a timely fashion.
However Police recognizes that your request is likely to be a matter of
high public interest, and we will do our best to respond as soon as we
can. Thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
-----"Grant Carroll" <[FOI #12550 email]>
wrote: -----
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Grant Carroll" <[FOI #12550 email]>
Date: 30/03/2020 01:06PM
Subject: Official Information request - Northland state highway roadblocks
Dear New Zealand Police,
Last Wednesday, 25th March, online news media and television news
bulletins reported road blocks being set up by former MP Hone Harawira and
supporters at two sites on state highways in Northland to block tourists
entering the Far North to protect locals from the spread of coronavirus.
Police were clearly seen being involved in the setting up of these
checkpoints and were said to be vetting motorists as they travelled
through them.
These events occurred before New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4
or a State of National Emergency was declared.
Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982 I would like to ask:
1) Was the setting up of these road blocks lawful and if it was what
legislation or New Zealand law permits this? If they were unlawful what
police action is being taken against those involved in setting them up?
2) What was the role of the police officers involved with the checkpoints?
3) It was also stated that police Far North Area Commander, Inspector Riki
Whiu, visited at least one of these roadblocks - what orders or advice was
given by him to the police officers involved with the checkpoints?
I confirm that I am a New Zealand citizen resident in New Zealand.
Many thanks for your help with this.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #12550 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:
[1]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:
[2]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
New Zealand Police
Kia ora Grant
Please find attached the response to your correspondence of 30 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
From: Grant Carroll
Dear New Zealand Police,
My OIA request consisted of three questions. I have received some information in relation to my second and third questions but there seems to be no response to the first one.
I would be very grateful if I could receive a response to my first question.
Thank you for this.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
New Zealand Police
Dear Mr Carroll
Please accept my apologies for our failure to provide a reply to the
following question in our response:
"1) Was the setting up of these road blocks lawful and if it was what
legislation or New Zealand law permits this? If they were unlawful what
police action is being taken against those involved in setting them up?"
A response to the outstanding question is now being compiled and will be
forwarded to you as soon as possible.
Kind regards
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
-----"Grant Carroll" <[FOI #12550 email]>
wrote: -----
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Grant Carroll" <[FOI #12550 email]>
Date: 05/05/2020 03:45PM
Subject: Re: Official Correspondence from New Zealand Police
Dear New Zealand Police,
My OIA request consisted of three questions. I have received some
information in relation to my second and third questions but there seems
to be no response to the first one.
I would be very grateful if I could receive a response to my first
question.
Thank you for this.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
show quoted sections
From: Grant Carroll
Dear New Zealand Police,
it is now 48 working days since I submitted this OIA request, more than twice the length of time you have to respond to it by law, and 23 working days since I was told that a response to the outstanding question would be forwarded to me as soon as possible.
I accept that the Police have been busier during this period with the pandemic response but could you please give me a firm indication as to when I can expect to receive the rest of the information which was to be "as soon as possible" on 7th May or do I need to put another complaint in to the Office of the Ombudsman to receive it.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
New Zealand Police
Good afternoon Grant
Your response is in its final stages of approval and we anticipate that
you will receive it within 8 working days. We apologise for the delay and
any inconvenience this has caused you and we will be in touch soon.
Kind regards
Rikki
Ministerial Services
PNHQ
-----"Grant Carroll" <[FYI request #12550 email]>
wrote: -----
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at New Zealand Police"
<[New Zealand Police request email]>
From: "Grant Carroll" <[FYI request #12550 email]>
Date: 10/06/2020 08:13AM
Subject: Re: OIA Request IR-01-20-12163 - Respond to outstanding question
Dear New Zealand Police,
it is now 48 working days since I submitted this OIA request, more than
twice the length of time you have to respond to it by law, and 23 working
days since I was told that a response to the outstanding question would be
forwarded to me as soon as possible.
I accept that the Police have been busier during this period with the
pandemic response but could you please give me a firm indication as to
when I can expect to receive the rest of the information which was to be
"as soon as possible" on 7th May or do I need to put another complaint in
to the Office of the Ombudsman to receive it.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Grant Carroll.
show quoted sections
New Zealand Police
Kia ora Grant
Please see attached the reply to your OIA, received by NZ Police
30/04/2020. Please accept our apologies for the delay.
Kind regards
Rikki-Lee
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
Grant Carroll left an annotation ()
Can anyone confirm if requests sent via this website are actually reaching the NZ Police? There seems to be an inordinate number that have been waiting well over the time limit or not getting responded to at all. Or maybe there is just another reason!
Link to this