An internal police report paints a picture of a broken bail system, with bail checks made on offenders who are "convenient to check rather than high priority".
The Bail Project Management Report, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, shows this sometimes results in police needlessly hassling low risk offenders and failing to monitor dangerous ones.
The report says just 0.4% of offenders - one in 250 - are automatically flagged as high risk.
Police acknowledge that vastly underestimates the number of high risk offenders and accept their IT systems are not fit for purpose.
Investigative reporter Guyon Espiner spoke to Corin Dann.
