Nothing confidential in leaked files, police say

New Zealand police say information about some officers on secret files revealed in Australia at the weekend divulge nothing confidential or personal.

The files obtained by the Perth-based Sunday Times newspaper and passed to police were reported to contain information such as the names of the partners and children of hundreds of serving police officers in New Zealand and Australia, nicknames, allegations of misconduct and personal preferences.

Details on railway guards are also included on the files, as are the registration details of unmarked police cars and prison transport vehicles.

Last night New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall said none of the information on officers from this country was confidential or personal.

"The information is up to six years out of date and records names of officers, in some cases it includes a rank and the unit the officer is purported to be attached to. There is no personal or confidential information on the files," Mr Marshall said.

There was no information that would not otherwise be found from a public source such as a newspaper.

"This is obviously someone who has collected information over a period of time and in many cases the people named are no longer with police or have changed rank and positions. I can assure staff that there is nothing to be concerned about," he said.

Western Australia police had assured counterparts in this country that they did not believe there was any link between the list and organised crime or outside influences.

WA Police acting deputy commissioner Murray Lampard said police were taking the computer files seriously and were keen to discover the source of the detailed and bizarre collection of facts and comments contained in the database.

Some of the information contained in the files was accurate and could only have been available to someone working within the police force, he said.

"A lot of the information seems to have stopped at 2003."

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the information would have been compiled because organised crime, such as Hell's Angels, keep information on police.

New Zealand police officers were always aware that any information about them would be studied by criminal groups, he said.

"We have found information on databases and on hard copies when we've done search warrants."

- NZPA