Employees allegedly looked into files of police officer's death
The New Zealand Police are carrying out an internal investigation over the alleged misuse of its National Intelligence Application (NIA) by some staff, according to reports.
The NIA is the police's national database of identity information that holds records about offences and incidents reported to Police, as well as other intelligence notes.
Deputy Commissioner frontline operations Tania Kura said some staff were misusing the NIA to look into the death of Nelson officer Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming, Stuff reported.
"From an audit covering the first half of January, we have identified individuals who are checking content when it has absolutely no connection to their duties," Kura said, as quoted by the news outlet.
"Alarmingly, and disrespectfully, we have found people randomly checking the files on the devastating incident in Nelson."
Kura did not release the names or the number of employees involved in the alleged misuse, but an internal investigation is being carried out in relation to the unauthorised NIA access.
"The cohort identified is being called to separate meetings so that we fully understand staff's rationale for accessing NIA," Kura said as quoted by Stuff.
The misuse of the NIA is a "serious breach of the New Zealand Police Code of Conduct," according to the official.
"Final decisions on any sanctions being applied to staff will then be decided by a team overseen by frontline operations," she said.
Meanwhile, the Police Association in New Zealand said they are aware of the internal probe and would be offering support to those who were subject to it.
"While this investigation may identify some unauthorised access, this would not likely be of a criminal nature considering the lack of benefit obtained by the breach," Police Association president Chris Cahill told Stuff.
"In the context of the traumatic nature of the event, we would expect any breaches to be dealt with proportionately."
