Police email check targets public

Members of the public are being investigated for emailing pornographic material to police after an internal probe found more than 5000 sexually explicit images on police computers.

In April, police said 330 staff had been found with inappropriate images during an audit of the email system.

Now it has been revealed that of the 5000 images involved, about 2000 were sent to police from outside sources, including 783 from private businesses, 81 from the public sector including Parliament, 20 from academic institutions and 17 from the media.

Members of the public who may have committed criminal offences by sending or receiving objectionable material are being investigated, police spokesman Jon Neilson told the Dominion Post newspaper.

Of the police staff caught in the probe, about 280 have accepted "alternative resolution" and will attend a one-day workshop to show them the error of their ways.

Parliamentary Service general manager Joel George has asked police to give him evidence of emails sent from Parliament, including the names of the senders.

- NZPA