Police say says 17 victims were not told when 17 defendants received bail last week. Photo / File
The system used to notify victims of offenders' releases has broken down - and police are blaming it on human error.
Last week, 17 victims weren't told when 17 defendants received bail.
Police are required to notify victims under Section 29 of the Victim Rights Act.
Superintendent Gary Allcock said police personally contacted each of the victims on Monday, to ensure there had been no defendant contact.
He said an internal investigation is now underway into how the delay happened.
"The public can be reassured that a strengthened process has been implemented to ensure this does not happen again."
Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar it was "incredibly disappointing" that such a big mistake had been made.
He said the Government needed to commit more resources to making sure victims were properly looked after.
"To a certain degree, I can understand it.
"The police are enormously under-resourced, always under financial pressure, manpower pressure, all of those things.
"But while I can understand it, I think it's unforgivable, and I would hope that police would put whatever measures were needed into place."
McVicar said that with the election coming up, it was the time for all political parties to start proving they would commit to more than just lip service about looking after victims.
Javon Aranui was rushed to hospital in an ambulance but died the next day.