New Zealand Police

New Zealand Police

Context

New Zealand Police (Police) is the lead agency responsible for reducing crime and enhancing community safety.

Nationally, Police is organised into 12 districts, administered from the Office of the Police Commissioner in Wellington. Each district has a central station that manages subsidiary and suburban stations.

The three operational branches are General Duties sectional staff, Criminal Investigation, and Traffic Safety. Police also has staff to provide administrative and specialist support.

New Zealand Police E-government Initiatives

• Implementation of National Intelligence Application (NIA)
• New internal networks and systems including a new intranet
• Recruitment website has some interaction

Summary

Ready Access: The Police websites and metadata are of a good standard, giving people ready access to information and services.

Alignment: The Police's use of the Internet aligns well with the E-government Strategy. Online services are beginning to be offered and NIA will improve the integration of back-office systems with other Justice sector agencies. Other initiatives will improve staff access to information.

Internet and Communications Technology

Police manages several websites that provide information for the public. The main site provides police news, safety information, the community magazine, general information about police services, and an online community road watch form to report bad driving. Details about 'Wanted People' are now available on the website.

The site includes contact details, and a clickable map of New Zealand to direct people to the appropriate local contact. The 'new cops' website provides information about recruitment. It has an interactive component to assess eligibility.

The transition from the Law Enforcement System (LES), which has been in use since 1975, to the new National Intelligence Application (NIA) is Police's most significant information technology (IT) project at present.

NIA will enable greater information sharing and integration through interfaces between Police, Ministry of Justice, Department of Corrections, and Land Transport Safety Authority. NIA will also help improve information sharing with other agencies, such as Department of Child, Youth and Family and Statistics New Zealand.

Police's Information Technology Strategic Plan is currently being reviewed. The review will include the reprioritising of a number of IT programmes to allow for the Applications and Infrastructure to be refreshed in a business as usual manner and introduce mobility, e-learning and spatial information to improve policing capability.

Police has three main call centres, which are highly reliant on intranet and networked information. They are located in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Their primary function is to receive 111 calls and dispatch police staff to incidents, acting as the interface between the public and police. The three Centres are compatible, operating to the same procedures and guidelines, with the same equipment. This ensures that if one Centre is fully or partially shut down, the other Centres can take over.

Police has a number of initiatives to consolidate systems and improve staff access to information. For example, desktops are being standardised and Lotus Notes is being consolidated to make it easier to manage. Other projects include the replacement of the mobile radio network, and the development of a new intranet. These projects will help staff access information, such as contact details when responding to an emergency, or procedural information needed to coordinate disaster management.

Ready Access to Information and Services

Metadata

Police has 129 metadata records, including 86 documents and 42 services. Police records are of a high quality, providing good coverage of Police services via the portal. No broken links were found during a sample test. Police metadata is well maintained and kept up-to-date.

Website Assessment

Websites assessed during May 2004 included:

www.police.govt.nz
www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/

Overall, the Police websites are of a good standard.

The strengths of the sites are in accessibility. In future the usability of the sites could be improved.

Key quality issues noted during the assessment included:

• Good range, depth and presentation of information content.
• Usability and site navigation could be improved for easier use.
• Lack of a search function on the Youth Education Service site may make it difficult for people to find information.
• Missing website policies mean people may be unsure about privacy and complaints.
• The addition of consultation documents would make it easier to offer feedback on proposed changes to policy or procedures.
• Style sheet problems may impede some physically impaired people's access.
• Required email addresses are not available or were not answered during the assessment.
• Contact details could be more specific to enable responsive handling of enquiries.
• More links to other related content would be useful.
• Long pages mean people have to scroll through a lot of information to find what they are looking for.

Alignment With E-government Goals

Convenience and Satisfaction

Websites provide the public with a good level of access to information. Alternative contact details are readily available for people who need additional information or access to Police services. Some forms can be downloaded, such as firearm licence applications.

Online services are beginning to be introduced, but there are limiting factors to what services can be offered online. For example, the availability of resources needed to follow up on a case or to get additional information by questioning people, needs to be considered when designing online services.

Integration and Efficiency

The migration from LES to the NIA system will further integrate the Police information systems with other agencies. NIA includes some system standardisation and extensive data interfaces with a number of agencies. As part of the ISS consultation process Police will consider the existing services provided online with a view to determining what additional services may be offered.

Participation

Police use their website to encourage people to contact the police about crimes and other specific issues.

Generally, Police does not directly consult the public over policies or other planned programmes and initiatives. Rather, Police engages with the public via Local Councils and community groups.