Cook Islands Police Service has clarified that fees for police reports, which contribute to operational funding, are charged for administrative services.

The clarification comes after a visitor posted on a Cook Islands holiday Facebook page claiming that they were told that if they wanted a police statement, it would cost $2250.

The visitor was snorkelling near Maire Muri Gardens and Blackrock when someone stole their car keys and all the cash from their wallet.

In a statement, police said that due to some confusion, and quite a bit of misinformation generated via Facebook, the Police Service can clarify that charges applied for the issuance of police reports are categorised as trading revenue.

The trading revenue represent a budgeted appropriation each financial year, police added.

“The reports are provided for the purposes of a police clearance (to satisfy employment requirements, passport renewals, and to attain certain licenses); or an incident record (for insurance claims),” the statement said.

Requests made in-country are subject to the following fees:

• Police Clearance $22.50
• Incident Report $30

According to the police, requests made from overseas will incur a slightly higher fee.

“As these fees are trading revenue, the charges are set at a level of cost recovery for the administrative and service work entailed.”

Police spokesperson Trevor Pitt said the annual trading revenue is estimated each year at $155,000. 

This total includes the charges for reports, as well as services (such as police escorts and driver testing), permits (including firearms), and sales (such as warrant of fitness books).

“Trading revenue is returned to the Police Service for operational use at a capped amount of about $13,000, each month,” Pitt said. “The varying trends in the range of administrative work and services impacts on the ability of Police to sustain those services.”

Pitt told Cook Islands News that, in a good month, police would process up to 100 reports, generating more than $3000 in trading revenue for the month, and in a really good month, this number could reach closer to 200 reports, raking in more than $6000 in revenue for that month.

“This latter figure can be attributed to the timing of liquor license renewals, which require a police clearance.”