Police Commissioner Howard Broad says he is disappointed with some of the decision-making in the recent appointment of a senior manager at the Royal New Zealand Police College and is seeking more information.
Detective Inspector David Archibald has taken over as the head of the Investigations and Intelligence School.
In 2006, Mr Archibald was disciplined for inappropriately accessing a police computer during the Mount Maunganui pack rape trial.
It was not clear whether Mr Archibald passed the information he accessed to a former colleague and private investigator working for the defence team of former police officer Brad Shipton, who was convicted at the trial.
Police say appropriate disciplinary action was taken at the time, and Mr Archibald had voluntarily declared the issue which a panel considered and checked during the job selection process.
However, in a statement on Wednesday, Police Commissioner Broad said the authority for making appointments is delegated to managers.
"Where there are issues around an appointment - real or perceived - then these must be carefully considered. It is not clear whether that happened in this case."
Mr Broad said he is seeking more information about the decision-making process in Mr Archibald's case.
Rape Crisis on Wednesday condemned Mr Archibald's appointment. A spokesperson, Andrea Black, says the organisation is "pretty appalled" that a censured officer was given a top training job.
"It's a reflection of a system that is unfairly weighed in favour of those with privilege and with knowledge within a system that is already unbalanced to disadvantage victims who speak up about violence," she says.
