Police launch review after controversial retail crime directive

Police have launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while a controversial and now scrapped directive was in place.

RNZ revealed last week a directive was recently sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'.

The directive said that from 26 March, the FMC was applying "nationally standardised value thresholds" when assessing theft and fraud files. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (paywave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500.

"When assessing files with these offences, you will apply the relevant value threshold and file any file under that threshold regardless of any lines of enquiry or IFA score," it said.

The police instructions relating to Case Management define an IFA score as "a numeric value derived from a series of weighted factors which gives an indication of the solvability of the case, based on the presence or absence of certain key lines of enquiry".

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called "confusing and unhelpful" on Tuesday following significant backlash.

On Friday, a police spokesperson confirmed to RNZ the national value threshold applied to the prioritisation of lower-level theft and fraud offences was being removed.

"A review is being completed on any cases that may have been impacted by those thresholds to assess whether they should be assigned to districts for follow-up," the spokesperson said.

The review will be done by police's data quality team.

"Police want to reassure that cases will continue to be managed locally balancing demand, resources and priorities to ensure the best possible service to victims in those communities."

Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson told RNZ earlier this week the organisation would "like assurance that no cases have slipped through the cracks due to any misunderstandings around the directive".

Motor Trade Association (MTA) head of advocacy James McDowall told RNZ he welcomed the Commissioner's comments on Tuesday.

"We are pleased to hear that police will be taking fuel theft seriously. If police want to conduct a review of the directive and any impact from it, we would be willing to take part and interested in the results," he said.

"But why stop there? Why not go back over the last six or 12 months and see how many fuel thefts under $150 were investigated, not simply recorded."

McDowall said members reporting that police did not take fuel theft seriously "goes back much further than March".

"But we are heartened by the Commissioner's comments yesterday that police will do their 'absolute best for the retail community to hold offenders to account'. We are keen to meet and work with police to this end."

On Tuesday, Chambers told media at a press conference he was "very disappointed" when he learned of the memo talking about thresholds.

"The content of that memo is inconsistent with my expectations as the Commissioner of Police," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chambers spoke with a number of leaders in the retail sector at a pre-planned meeting.

"We sat down and we talked about what the opportunities are to work together in terms of addressing the problem of retail crime," he said.

"My staff across the country work incredibly hard to address the problem of retail crime. We know that retail crime has been increasing over recent years, but so too have the number of prosecutions that police have laid addressing offenders."

Chambers said police relied on the support of the retail community and members of the public to gather information and evidence that allowed police to hold offenders to account.

"We won't always be able to be there, but we will do our absolute best for the retail community to hold offenders to account," he said.

Chambers said he first became aware of the memo on the weekend, after RNZ revealed its existence. He read it for the first time on Monday night.

"Having read the memo myself, some might think that we were giving license to those who choose to break the law. That's not the case," he said.

"In fact, my appeal is for the retail community and the public to continue to help us to ensure that we gather information to hold people account that hasn't changed."

Chambers said the staffer behind the directive "thought they were being helpful".

"But actually, when we think about the processes that we have internally to address demand, we must also be thinking about the impact of those decisions externally.

"Our role as law enforcement, we are working incredibly hard with the retail community, and the memo was inconsistent with my expectations. I have not spoken to the individual myself, but I think the Commissioner coming out and being very clear about my expectations is probably sufficient."

Chambers described himself as an "understanding leader," but said he was "disappointed" the memo spoke to things "that are very inconsistent with my expectations when it comes to retail crime".

He said he was "concerned" when he read the memo that it may "impact on trust and confidence in police".

"So I'm here today making very clear, and I'm hoping reassuring, that my expectations have not changed."

Email sent to commanders

Victims and Resolutions executive director service Rachael Bambery sent an email to District Commanders on Tuesday.

The email, supplied to RNZ by police, spoke about "public commentary about national consistent thresholds" for certain offences.

"I want to reaffirm that our collective focus remains on the victims and retail crime… The Service, Victims, and Resolutions teams remain committed to supporting you and your districts-both in progressing files and in ensuring our victims are kept informed.

"As outlined in the recent memo regarding the development of a consistent IFA approach, please remember this is not a hard and fast directive. To be clear, districts continue to retain the discretion to investigate based on local context, and local resources. Early case closure is not final-many files are reactivated as new information or patterns emerge."

Bambery said victim feedback continued to highlight a common theme.

"They want to know what's happening next. A consistent national approach will help us provide timely, meaningful updates to victims-something that builds trust and reinforces our commitment

to service.

"Encouragingly, recent prosecution data shows an increase in shoplifting charges being laid."

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