Criminals Exploiting COVID-19 Outbreak for Financial Gain through Procurement and Consumer Fraud (Austin Police Department)
| Tracking # |
R036668-042020 |
| Multi Request | Criminals Exploiting COVID-19 Outbreak for Financial Gain through Procurement and Consumer Fraud |
| Submitted | April 19, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Documents, memos, emails, reports and other records describing exploitation by criminals of the COVID-19 the outbreak as well as records mentioning or generated as part of or as a result of Liaison Information Report (LIR) 200323006, titled "Criminals Exploiting COVID-19 Outbreak for Financial Gain through Procurement and Consumer Fraud."
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
From: Austin Police Department
Dear Emma Best:
Thank you for your interest in the public records of the Austin Police Department. Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 4/20/2020 and given the reference number R036668-042020 for tracking purposes.
Please be advised that the Austin Police Department’s Central Records Division receives over 2500 requests for information a month. These requests are processed in the order received, and we strive to respond to each request promptly, as required by law.
Please know that, as a result of the large volume of requests received, the anticipated timeframe for responding to your request is approximately 45-60 business days.
You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records requested. PLEASE NOTE: The Texas Public Information Act does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you’ll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Austin Public Records Center.
Austin Police Department
From: Austin Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
Hi Emma,
Can you clarify what you are wanting us to locate? I'm not sure what you meant by exploitation of criminals on COVID-19... Is there a specific case or offense that you're needing us to locate?
Respectfully,
Stephanie
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