[TheList] [Some] News media to get access to police website

Sat May 23 10:36:21 AEST 2009

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  <http://www.odt.co.nz/sites/all/themes/odt/images/header_logo.gif> 
Published on Otago Daily Times Online (http://www.odt.co.nz) 
News media to get access to police website
Created 21/05/2009 - 04:01 

Police will launch a new website for news gathering organisations when they
start encrypting their radio traffic in the Wellington region next month. 

The new digital radio network -- to be widened to cover the whole country by
2014 -- will stop people listening in to police communications. 

Though police welcome some unauthorised listeners -- ranging from hobbyists,
to boy racers and would-be criminals -- being blocked from eavesdropping,
they plan to offer media "filtered" access to initial incident reports. 

But the messages released in the public interest will not include details of
suicides or insecure premises. 

Some events involving special situations will not include specific addresses
and messages dealing with routine tasks such as checking on alarms, or bail
breaches and the locations of roadside breath testing will never go on the
website. 

Some of the brief incident reports will be withheld for an hour, with
potential for incident commanders to extend that, in callouts involving
aggravate robbery, hostage situations, domestic violence, sexual offences,
and incidents involving juveniles or mentally ill people. 

"Natsec" events involving national security, and offences "against the
national interest", including terrorism will also be blocked for an hour. 

But traffic crashes, missing people, burglary and other theft, rescues and
arson will be listed within minutes. 

"Everything goes out, unless there is a reason not to," said a spokeswoman
at police headquarters. 

"But we will delay things to do with sexual attacks, children and sudden
deaths." 

Police would have to check that sudden deaths were not suicides, because
reporting details of those was limited by the Coroner's Act. 

She said media access to the incident listing would be through a
password-protected website. 

Approved media outlets would be legal entities with physical premises in New
Zealand, operating newsrooms, including broadcasters, newspapers, news
agencies and web-based news services. 

Individual journalists, freelancers, and magazines and periodicals are not
expected to be given access. 

"You basically have to have a newsroom ... publishing timely information,"
the spokeswoman said. 

Newsrooms in the Wellington region will be given information in the next
couple of weeks about accessing the website. 

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Source URL (retrieved on 21/05/2009 - 23:12):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/57147/news-media-get-access-police-websit
e 

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