20 June 2017
“Ms Anthrope”
By email to: [FYI request #5593 email]
Dear requester
INFORMATION REQUESTS – OUR REFERENCES: 17/2171/14 AND 17/2171/15
I refer to your 12 June emails, received at 11:22 and 11:25 respectively, sent to the
personal email address of a member of the central processing team for Official
Information Act (OIA) requests at Police National Headquarters.
Despite the fact you have received an acknowledgement to your latest two emails
indicating they will be actioned under the OIA, it is necessary to ‘stop the clock’ and
establish your eligibility to request the information you have sought under the OIA. As
you may know, section 12 of the legislation details who may make OIA requests; and
in line with guidance issued by the Office of the Ombudsman, an agency such as Police
“is entitled to ask reasonable questions to check whether you are an eligible requester”
(
Making official information requests: A guide for requesters [2016], accessible at http://
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/resources-and-publications/documents/making-
official-information-requests).
While we have no difficulty accepting the use of pseudonyms in email addresses, say,
which an OIA requester wishes to have replies sent to, when anonymity is apparently
sought by using an ‘identity’ like “Ms Anthrope”, I trust you will understand that we first
need to establish your section 12 eligibility.
We will reinitiate the process of responding to your latest two requests under the OIA
once you have clarified your eligibility to make such requests under the legislation.
If not, we will treat the requests as withdrawn.
Respectfully
Mike Webb
National Manager
Assurance Group
Safer Communities Together
POLICE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
180 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, WELLINGTON
Telephone: 64 4 474 9499 www.police.govt.nz