Policing Amendment Bill
This bill makes two main changes to the rules police work under. First, it gives police clear written legal permission to record photos, videos, and sounds in public places and on private property they are legally allowed to be on — something a recent court case made unclear. Second, it expands the police's power to temporarily close off areas (not just roads) to vehicles and people when things like dangerous or antisocial driving are happening, and creates new fines for people who ignore those closures.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
Police are given clear legal permission to record photos and videos in public and to close off areas when dangerous or antisocial driving is happening, with new fines and offences for people who don't comply.
A Police employee may, for 1 or more of the purposes set out in section 45A, record, by any means— (a) visual images of any person or thing that is in, or that can be observed from, a public place; and (b) any sound that is emitted from, or that can be heard in, a public place.
A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a direction under section 35A commits an infringement offence and is liable to— (a) an infringement fee of $1,000; or (b) a fine imposed by a court not exceeding $3,000.
A person commits an offence if they fail to stop as soon as practicable when required to do so by a constable... A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 21 April 2026.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.