Powers v systems: Do police get more of one despite absence of other?

The police minister asserts that officers have all the IT they need for enhanced intelligence gathering, in a clash over the foundations for incoming policing powers.

"I think the police have got the systems, they've got the capability to be able to meet the need," Mark Mitchell told the justice select committee scrutinising Budget 2026.

"We're investing heavily into their systems."

However, just weeks ago, official reviewers found police data was fragmented.

"These systems are often fragmented, difficult to integrate and increasingly misaligned with policing workflows," said the police performance review in April.

It said progress on data fixes "appears piecemeal and slow".

Meanwhile, the privacy commissioner concluded: "The current state of police's information management systems... may make it difficult for police to find and use the information they have collected and retained to fight crime and keep communities safe."

The committee clash pitted Mitchell against Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen.

'I don't agree with it'

At heart, it is about whether the policing amendment bill before Parliament is poised to give police new powers or just re-instate eroded ones - and specifically over whether the bill will drop tonnes of extra intelligence data into weak and fragmented IT systems.

"The privacy commissioner has ruled that you don't currently have the existing IT infrastructure," Andersen charged.

Mitchell responded he'd like to see that ruling, adding: "If that is the privacy commissioner's position, then I don't agree with it."

The Officer of Privacy Commissioner (OPC) made a formal submission on the bill in April, saying: "OPC has repeatedly advised police that, without significant upgrades to police information management systems, which may well require additional investment, police will be unable to safely manage the increased volume of information that could be collected under this bill.

"This bill should not proceed without the necessary major improvements to police information management systems," said commissioner Michael Webster.

But what improvements?

Mitchell told the scrutiny hearing an "enormous amount of work" and "significant investment through this budget round" would go into police physical and IT infrastructure.

Budget 2026 contained unspecified funding for a new fingerprinting and biometrics tech system, but not for a digital evidence management system.

Andersen zeroed in on how police had mismanaged photos en masse for years, asking where the budget and business case was to improve that.

Ad hoc police systems and practices were panned for unlawfully photographing rangatahi, and change was imposed on a resistant force, after an inquiry in 2022/23, prompted by RNZ reporting. This change was a crucial spark for the policing powers bill that proponents said would restore officers' "confidence" to take the photos necessary for investigations.

Police told the scrutiny hearing the key upgrade on the photo front was to officers' mobile phones, so they could take, handle, delete and recall images of people much more easily.

This was being added on to digital notebook features that include interviewing recording capability.

Officers have made at least 6500 notes a day on these, since a rollout in 2023.

Mitchell told Andersen: "Police have shown that they are responsible, that they can use their existing systems to be able to support the work that's been done and that we're investing heavily into their systems."

Bodycam footage flow

The policing powers bill would authorise officers to video and audio-record people when they were out in public.

"There are real questions about how much information is good policing intelligence to stop crime and how much could be bulk collection of images of people going about their lawful daily lives," said Commissioner Webster.

The bill would also legally help with Police Commissioner Richard Chambers' aim to roll out bodyworn cameras by next year.

The cams would generate enormous amounts of new footage and data. Police forces in other countries have struggled with the volumes.

A police internal report several years back said bodyworn cameras "would produce more risk than benefit", without an efficient and effective information management system.

'It is not a full digital evidence management system'

RNZ questioned police on how the phone upgrade focused on at the scrutiny hearing fitted with any wider information management upgrade.

"It is not a full digital evidence management system, in that it is not designed to ingest and manage digital evidence from other sources," police replied.

"A full digital evidence management system would still be desired in the future."

IN 2020, police tried to get such a system, but were stymied then and again in 2024 by lack of funding, as RNZ revealed earlier. The so-called Reframe transformation programme that covered the data upgrades was cut back and given a short-term focus in 2024.

Police's lack of such a digital evidence system has been a focus of many official reports.

The April 2026 performance review diagnosed the problem: "Police's digital environment spans a vast portfolio of systems.

"Digital evidence is becoming increasingly fragmented across formats, jurisdictions and platforms, which complicates prosecution efforts."

The regulatory impact statement (RIS) on the bill said a strengthened system would build public trust in the enhanced police powers.

"This work is likely to be significant and will likely require a business case to be developed, for consideration in a future budget cycle," it said.

The performance review did not put a data systems fix in its immediate upgrades box, but 3-5 years out. (As an aside, the review also called the 111 system "increasingly fragile", but a fix for that is not funded.)

"Officers often rely on manual workarounds to bridge gaps between systems, slowing down processes and creating inefficiencies," said the review.

"The challenge is compounded by volume of digital evidence police needs to manage. Every investigation, from retail theft to transnational crime, involves large volumes of CCTV footage, encrypted messages, social media content and forensic files."

Volumes will grow further, but "current storage and processing capabilities are struggling to keep up, and legacy systems cannot deliver the speed or flexibility required for modern policing".

Information and corporate systems were fragmented and required manual workarounds.

"There is no clear pathway for asset and system renewal."

The performance review added the data issues "need to be presented as a coherent package of enabling investment".

Some work was going on to modernise investigative technology, digitise case files and explore automation tools, it said.

RNZ revealed this week police had quietly adopted generative AI for the first time for translating and transcribing work in investigations, after initially dumping it last year, when officers misused the AI.

RNZ asked Mitchell what investment in Budget 2026 would go to a full digital evidence management system and what the plan was to handle masses of bodyworn camera footage.

He did not respond on those matters, but on Friday afternoon said that the biometric ID system had funding in Budget 2026.

"In last year's budget, investment was made to upgrade police's Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) and police is continuing to upgrade its Infringement Management System (PIMS). Together, these commitments are helping to significantly strengthen police IT infrastructure.

"My expectation is that police approach everything they do with integrity and high levels of trust. I have confidence this would extend to the development and use of any technologies required while undertaking police duties."

The performance review said ERM was a replacement for HR and payroll, and a cornerstone of a "transformation" of police data systems. It replaced "outdated finance, human resource, and asset management systems with a unified platform aligned to all-of-government digital standards".

"This is not just an administrative upgrade - it is the backbone for a future where data flows seamlessly across police and its partners."