Police officers cleared after texts about smoking seized cannabis

Two police officers who sent text messages about smoking cannabis they had seized from a member of the public have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Photo / File

- By RNZ

Two police officers who sent text messages about smoking cannabis they had seized from a member of the public have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Police said the two Waitematā District officers did not smoke the cannabis, but rather took part in an "unprofessional text message exchange and were spoken with".

Police refused to release the investigation file into the matter after a request under the Official Information Act, citing privacy grounds.

"Police has weighed the public interest in the public knowing the detail and outcome of internal investigations against the privacy of the individuals involved. On weighing those competing interests, we have taken into account the fact of the Police Conduct Authority summary , which is already in the public arena, and the fact that the IPCA as the oversight body of Police conduct was satisfied that an appropriate outcome had been applied," a police spokesperson said.

The IPCA said the officers' text messages were found during an unrelated investigation.

Police said the text messages are "personal information". A police spokesperson couldn't say whether the messages were sent and received on police-issued mobile devices.

"Police fully investigated these allegations and found there was no truth to them," Waitematā District Commander Superintendent Naila Hassan said.

"There was no evidence that any criminal offending occurred and the IPCA oversaw this investigation."