Latest news with #Chambers
Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Thousands of shoplifting complaints not investigated across NZ
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting below $500 were not forwarded for investigation while a controversial police directive was in place, documents released to RNZ reveal. RNZ earlier revealed a directive was sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'. The directive said 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. Following the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called "confusing and unhelpful" following significant backlash. On Wednesday, RNZ was released a series of documents from police under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of 26 May about an RNZ article on the memo. "It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this," the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaise with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions and asked for a briefing to him and the Minister's office to "sort the messaging out". "For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. "We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold." Shortly after another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. "We can see there's a bit of traction tonight." Chambers replied: "I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector". The following morning Chambers released a statement and said the memo did not meet his expectations on retail crime. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more "efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand", the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. "This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within Districts." The process for assigning volume crime files was "inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling". Volume crime cases made up 62 per cent of daily reports, of which 70 per cent were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with "streamlined assignment rules" across the Districts. "By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services." The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from 26 March the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from 7 April revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser, said Wellington had the biggest change from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period Auckland City had a 26 per cent decrease, Counties Manukau 21 per cent, Eastern 38 per cent, Central 42 per cent and Canterbury 13 per cent. Waikato had a 2.7 per cent increase, which the staffer said was due to filed being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they "regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further". "While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. "Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction." The email said police appreciated this may be "frustrating and upsetting" to hear, "particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of enquiry". "We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes." Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was "pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion". Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier 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." Rachael Bambery, Executive Director Service, Victims, Resolutions said it was not correct to assume that all the closures were due to the monetary thresholds for early case closure. Some may have had no information or evidence to follow up on. She confirmed police were completing a review on files that were closed previously due to the monetary threshold. That review was focused on identifying and pursuing any outstanding lines of enquiry.
Otago Daily Times
8 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting not investigated across NZ
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting below $500 were not forwarded for investigation while a controversial police directive was in place, documents released to RNZ reveal. RNZ earlier revealed a directive was sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'. The directive said 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. Following the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called "confusing and unhelpful" following significant backlash. On Wednesday, RNZ was released a series of documents from police under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of 26 May about an RNZ article on the memo. "It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this," the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaise with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions and asked for a briefing to him and the Minister's office to "sort the messaging out". "For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. "We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold." Shortly after another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. "We can see there's a bit of traction tonight." Chambers replied: "I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector". The following morning Chambers released a statement and said the memo did not meet his expectations on retail crime. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more "efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand", the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. "This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within Districts." The process for assigning volume crime files was "inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling". Volume crime cases made up 62 per cent of daily reports, of which 70 per cent were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with "streamlined assignment rules" across the Districts. "By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services." The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from 26 March the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from 7 April revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser, said Wellington had the biggest change from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period Auckland City had a 26 per cent decrease, Counties Manukau 21 per cent, Eastern 38 per cent, Central 42 per cent and Canterbury 13 per cent. Waikato had a 2.7 per cent increase, which the staffer said was due to filed being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they "regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further". "While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. "Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction." The email said police appreciated this may be "frustrating and upsetting" to hear, "particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of enquiry". "We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes." Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was "pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion". Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier 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." Rachael Bambery, Executive Director Service, Victims, Resolutions said it was not correct to assume that all the closures were due to the monetary thresholds for early case closure. Some may have had no information or evidence to follow up on. She confirmed police were completing a review on files that were closed previously due to the monetary threshold. That review was focused on identifying and pursuing any outstanding lines of enquiry.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Retail crime investigations in some regions halved under police directive
After the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called 'confusing and unhelpful' following significant backlash. Today, police released a series of documents to RNZ under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of May 26 about an RNZ article on the memo. 'It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this,' the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaised with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions, and asked for a briefing to him and the minister's office to 'sort the messaging out'. 'For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. 'We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold.' Shortly afterwards, another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. 'We can see there's a bit of traction tonight.' Chambers replied: 'I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector'. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more 'efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand', the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. 'This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within districts.' The process for assigning volume crime files was 'inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling'. Volume crime cases made up 62% of daily reports, of which 70% were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with 'streamlined assignment rules' across the police districts. 'By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services.' The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: general theft $200, petrol drive-off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (payWave, online, scam etc) $1000 and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from March 26, the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from April 7 revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser said Wellington had the biggest change, from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period, Auckland City had a 26% decrease, Counties Manukau 21%, Eastern 38%, Central 42% and Canterbury 13%. Waikato had a 2.7% increase, which the staffer said was due to files being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they 'regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further'. 'While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. 'Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction.' The email said police appreciated this may be 'frustrating and upsetting' to hear, 'particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of inquiry'. 'We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes.' RNZ has approached police for comment. Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was 'pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion'. Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier 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.' - RNZ
Business Times
a day ago
- Business
- Business Times
Seatrium to pay over S$240m to Brazilian, Singapore authorities over corruption offences
[SINGAPORE] Seatrium is putting a long-running corruption case behind it with financial penalties of more than S$240 million to be paid to the authorities in Brazil and Singapore. On Wednesday (Jul 30), the company announced that it signed a leniency agreement with Brazilian authorities in relation to Operation Car Wash – a major corruption probe in the country. In 2023, Brazilian authorities commenced proceedings against Seatrium's subsidiary Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz for its past conduct linked to the probe. Seatrium will make a final settlement payment of around S$168.4 million under the leniency agreement. Additionally, it is required to pay a financial penalty of US$110 million under a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) it signed on Wednesday with Singapore authorities, which is now subject to approval of the Singapore High Court. As the Attorney-General's Chambers has agreed for a maximum of US$53 million of Seatrium's payments to Brazilian authorities to be credited against this financial penalty, the company is required to pay Singapore authorities a sum of US$57 million, or around S$73.3 million, under the DPA. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up This news comes one day before it is due to announce its first-half earnings on Jul 31. Seatrium said that there will be no material impact to its net earnings and net tangible asset per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025. This is because it had previously made provisions in its financial statements for the in-principle settlement payment and financial penalty. The group called for a trading halt on Wednesday morning, before the announcement. The trading halt has since been lifted. Shares of Seatrium fell to S$2.29 after the announcement, 3.8 per cent or S$0.09 below Tuesday's closing price, with some 9.2 million shares changing hands as at 11.41 am. It was trading at S$2.35 as at the midday trading break, down by 1.3 per cent or S$0.03, with some 13.7 million shares transacted. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) have informed Seatrium that their joint investigation into its potential offences has concluded, the company said. Moreover, the authorities added that no action will be taken against Seatrium or its employees. On Wednesday, Citi assigned Seatrium a 'buy' call and a target price of S$2.65. 'Although the share price had recovered from the lows during the initial MAS and CAD investigation announcement, we believe the conclusion of the investigation will lift the remaining overhang on Seatrium. The next milestone (or hurdle) to future value creation may come with improving margins and financials during the results,' the bank said. 'We apply a target multiple of 1.2 times on FY2026 (estimates) as we believe the market will look into its long-term prospects as new higher-margin contracts should raise returns further and push return on equity higher,' Citi said. Seatrium said that it is 'keen to move forward' and to ride on energy market tailwinds. It added that it has zero-tolerance for fraud, bribery and corruption. Please check back for more.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
ieExplains: Why does every infrastructure project in Ireland take so long?
Ahead of the 2024 general election, then-Taoiseach Simon Harris was adamant Ireland needed a new Government department, one solely dedicated to the delivery of infrastructure. While Fianna Fáil was cooler on the idea, there was general agreement across the political spectrum: Ireland does not build things quickly enough. On Tuesday, there was confirmation of this in a new report that confirmed what everybody already knew. While the department of infrastructure did not get established, public expenditure Minister Jack Chambers was given the explicit title of infrastructure when he assumed the role in January. In May, he announced a new Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce. The taskforce, chaired by the minister, was established to "oversee the department's programme of reform to unblock barriers and accelerate infrastructure delivery". Why is it needed? The need for a taskforce is down to a simple fact: building in Ireland takes too long. Mr Chambers said on Tuesday "every element of the project life cycle has delayed things". "What's been set out here is that for infrastructure projects, the timeline has doubled in 20 years," Mr Chambers said. What does the report say? Tuesday's report uses examples from the likes of Uisce Éireann, which says the lead-in time for a small wastewater treatment project in Ireland is seven-10 years, and ESB Networks, which said the development cycle for an electricity substation has reached seven years. Major road projects can now have a development cycle of up to 15 years, it says, and these timelines have more than doubled compared to the development cycles typical just 20 years ago. This matters, because longer project lifecycles are costing more, and impeding the ability to provide adequate housing. It also delays the achievement of climate and environmental goals. The report also raises questions about the ability of the Irish construction sector to meet the challenges of infrastructure. It says the construction sector employed 236,800 people in 2007. At the beginning of this year, an estimated 178,000 people were directly employed in the sector, considerably fewer than 2007. The report says given limited labour availability, the capacity of the construction industry to expand to meet all of the investment needs in the economy must be carefully considered. The report says the key issues with Ireland's slow delivery are: a lack of public information which magnifies opposition, regulatory burden, risk aversion, insufficient co-ordination on approvals, slow processes, and procurement challenges. Do legal challenges play a part? According to the stakeholders, yes. The words "judicial review" appear in the review a total of 50 teams, with Mr Chambers saying he was concerned these were "too often being used as a mechanism and a tactic to obstruct and delay, and this distorts the intended purpose of judicial review from a remedy of last resort to a tactical tool to delay infrastructure development and clog up our courts". But put to him this view paints those who take legal cases as "bogeymen" in the face of a Government inability to deliver infrastructure, Mr Chambers said everything needed to change internally within how the State regulates and oversees projects. Read More Excessive regulation delaying key infrastructure projects, Cabinet to hear
