17 hours ago
Access to file on police woman's death abused
Lyn Fleming. Photo: supplied
An internal police investigation has revealed 50 employees snooped into the file relating to the death of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming without good reason.
Snr Sgt Fleming died after she and Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay were struck by a vehicle while on foot patrol in the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day in Nelson.
The 62-year-old succumbed to her injuries in the hospital that day, surrounded by her family and Snr Sgt Ramsay suffered serious injuries.
Snr Sgt Fleming was the first policewoman to be killed in the line of duty in New Zealand.
A 32-year-old man charged with offences linked to Snr Sgt Fleming's death pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder earlier this year.
His interim name suppression was still in place and he was due to appear again in August.
Weeks after Snr Sgt Fleming's death, police launched an internal investigation into alleged misuse of an intelligence database called the National Intelligence Application (NIA), which holds sensitive information about incidents and offending, as well as information about the public.
Police employees, including civilian staff, have access to the database, but their use was tracked and audited.
They were required to have a valid work reason for accessing anything within the system.
Following an audit in January, a memo was sent to staff by the Deputy Commissioner of frontline operations Tania Kura, noting that a number of employees had checked the file relating to Snr Sgt Fleming's death, despite it not connecting to their duties.
"Alarmingly and disrespectfully, we have found people randomly checking the files on the devastating incident in Nelson," the memo read.
"Unauthorised use of NIA will not be tolerated and final decisions on any sanctions for staff will be decided by a dedicated team."
An Official Information Act request released to NZME confirmed there have been a total of 76 instances of misuse of NIA in 2025.
A total of 116 police employees were investigated as part of the internal audit and 76 staff were found to have a legitimate reason for accessing the file.
An internal police investigation revealed 50 employees looked at the file relating to the death of Snr Sgt Fleming without good reason.
By Jeremy Wilkinson
