(File image). Photo: RNZ
A senior police supervisor has spent a week overseas looking into facial recognition technology, but without producing a single report about it.
The police use the technology to match photos of suspects, but say they never use it on live CCTV feeds.
Their annual review showed the top supervisor of their fingerprint and image management unit spent a week in late 2022 with the facial recognition technology unit of the New South Wales police.
"This unit is similar to workgroup in [New Zealand's] National Biometrics because of the similar work: Facial recognition searches, forensic face analysis, line ups and have SMT [scars, marks and tattoos] system reporting," the review said.
RNZ asked to see anything at all that the supervisor had reported back about, from the $4000 trip.
The police in an OIA response said there was not anything.
"Regarding any notes made by the former police employee associated with this visit ... the information does not exist," they said.
They had contacted the person, as part of the OIA, and were told "that during this visit they observed practices and processes relating to facial recognition".
"No New South Wales Police documentation was obtained during this visit."
The NSW police pointed the supervisor to a couple of public websites, police here said.
Facial recognition was a fast-changing technology that police have acknowledged was controversial and which they have promised to be transparent about.
When RNZ followed up by asking if it was usual for senior staff to not report back from week-long work trips, the police turned this into a further Official Information Act request which will take at least five weeks to answer.