Cabinet Policy Committee


Minute of Decision
POL Min (07) 22/7




Copy No:


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Police Act Review: Support for Effective Policing

On 19 September 2007, the Cabinet Policy Committee (POL), having been authorised by Cabinet with Power to Act [CAB Min (07) 34/9-14]:


Background

  1. noted that in August 2007, the Cabinet Social Development Committee noted that the Minister of Police intended to submit, in September 2007, a suite of Cabinet papers seeking decisions on new policing legislation [SDC Min (07) 13/3];

  2. noted that the submission under POL (07) 331 is one of a suite of papers on the Police Act Review, and should be read in conjunction with the papers under POL (07) 356,
    POL (07) 328, POL (07) 329, POL (07) 330 and POL (07) 357;

Context

  1. noted that the Police Act Review has identified opportunities to clarify and modernise the current legal powers and protections available to Police staff;

  2. noted that there is support to carry forward current administrative powers and protections from the Police Act 1958 in a comprehensive, new Policing Act, as well as to give statutory backing to other well-accepted Police practices;

  3. noted that the ideas which have been raised in the context of the Police Act Review, which are now being progressed through other channels, include:

    1. a potential dispersal or “move on” power to prevent gatherings of people developing into dangerous situations [CBC Min (07) 14/15];

    2. enabling, or speeding up, law enforcement information sharing between agencies [POL Min (07) 13/12];

    3. a comprehensive legal framework for search and surveillance powers, including protections which apply when the Police need to use reasonable force to secure locations;

Proposals

Command and control of Police

  1. confirmed the importance of New Zealand Police operating as a disciplined organisation, in which all Police employees must obey the lawful commands of their superiors, carry out their policing duties impartially, and not act under the control, direction or instruction of any person outside of Police;

  2. agreed to clarify in legislation the Commissioner of Police’s ultimate authority to direct who takes charge of a particular policing operation, with the supporting ability in extraordinary situations to relieve an individual officer of command;

  3. noted that, despite Police’s operational independence reflected in paragraph 6, the tasking of Police employees can come from outside the Police command structure in exceptional cases (notably, during a civil defence emergency);

Improved identification of Police employees and use of Police’s name

  1. agreed that all Police employees should hold legally-recognised identity cards, which for staff with policing powers are to be known as “warrant cards”;

  2. agreed to link the cards referred to in paragraph 9 with employment status, so that if a Police employee is stood-down, suspended, discharged, resigns, retires, or goes on leave without pay, the person’s warrant and/or identity card must be surrendered;

  3. agreed to strengthen protections against impersonation of Police employees by increasing the penalty for such offending to a fine not exceeding $15,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, or both;

  4. agreed to strengthen protections against the misuse of Police’s name, while allowing for legitimate uses to continue, by introducing a consent system under which the Commissioner of Police has the sole ability to authorise the use of the term “New Zealand Police” or “Police”;

Confirming the identity of people being lawfully detained

  1. agreed to update current legislative provisions that enable Police to confirm identities of people who have been lawfully detained, subject to the following clarifications and improvements:

    1. where there is good cause to suspect a person has committed an offence, Police can detain that person for a reasonable time to obtain identifying particulars to enable the commencement of a prosecution against the person;

    2. if not otherwise obtained beforehand, identifying particulars should always be obtainable following an arrest;

    3. any identifying particulars taken from a person must be destroyed if a decision is made not to institute criminal proceedings against that person, or at the end of such proceedings if the person is not convicted, or an alternative resolution is imposed which does not involve the person admitting to the relevant offence(s);

Offering greater visibility and support for Police’s international work

  1. agreed to Police’s ongoing cooperation with overseas enforcement agencies, where it is consistent with Police’s obligations under domestic and international law;

  2. agreed to incorporate the provisions of the United Nations (Police) Act 1964 and the Crimes and Misconduct (Overseas Operations) Act 2004 in the planned Policing Act, and to update and reissue the current Police (United Nations) Regulations 1964 as regulations under the new Policing Act;

Providing greater certainty for operations by Police’s tactical groups

  1. agreed to clarify the deployment of explosive items by Police’s tactical groups by exempting such deployment from the requirements of the Hazardous Substances (Classes 1 to 5 Controls) Regulations 2001, in line with an existing exemption in similar circumstances which applies to the operations of the New Zealand Defence Force;

  2. noted that, despite the proposal in paragraph 16, current safety requirements will be maintained by Police through explosive items only being deployed by specially-trained staff according to national guidelines;

Better enabling lawful use of assumed identities in covert policing activities

  1. noted that current inter-agency protocols that allow cover identity documents to be issued to Police staff for covert activities do not have legislative backing;

  2. agreed to formalise the use of assumed identities by authorised Police staff by amending the Passports Act 1992, Land Transport Act 1998 and Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999, to allow Police staff to acquire cover identity passports and driver licences for use in covert policing operations;

  3. agreed to give effect to the proposal in paragraph 19 by including the necessary changes to:

    1. the Passports Act 1992 in the proposed new Policing Act;

    2. the Land Transport Act 1998 in the forthcoming Land Transport Legislation Amendment Bill;

    3. the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999 in the forthcoming Driver Licensing Amendment Rule;

Consolidations and cross references

  1. agreed to transfer the current section 242A of the Local Government Act 1974 (relating to temporary closure of roads by Police) to the proposed new Policing Act;

  2. agreed to transfer the current section 37A of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966 (which gives Police an ability to take intoxicated people into safe custody if they cannot care for themselves) to the proposed new Policing Act;

  3. agreed to update the provision referred to in paragraph 22 to allow still-intoxicated people to be held in Police custody for a further period of up to 12 hours, if a medical practitioner judges it still unsafe to release them after an initial 12 hour period of detention;

  4. agreed to cross-reference to the current section 109(1) of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 (relating to detention of people found in mentally distressed states in public) in the proposed new Policing Act;

  5. noted that opportunities for cross-referencing to other traditional Police powers in the proposed new Policing Act will be explored as the new legislation is drafted;

Bringing forward existing sections of the Police Act 1958 and removing others

  1. agreed to retain in legislation the current offences in the Police Act 1958, except for the offence contained in section 55 (“Bribing Members of Police”);

Legislative implications

  1. noted that a Policing Bill holds a category 5 priority on the 2007 Legislation Programme (instructions to be provided to Parliamentary Counsel Office in 2007);

  2. invited the Minister of Police to issue drafting instructions to Parliamentary Counsel Office to give effect to the above proposals.




Janine Harvey

Secretary Reference: CAB (07) 474; POL Min (07) 21/16




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