BLM comms (Baltimore Police Department)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Baltimore Police Department of Baltimore, MD.
Tracking #

20 1137

Multi Request BLM comms
Status
Rejected

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Maryland Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Emails, letters, and memos to or from police/law enforcement unions, the National Guard, or federal officials between May 1, 2020 and the present.

I also request copies of emails containing any of the following: "protest", "protests", "Black Lives Matter", "BLM", "riot", "riots", "antifa", "antifascist", "anti-fascist", or "militia".

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 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

From: Baltimore Police Department

Dear Ms. Emma Best:

This is an acknowledgement of your request below, for public information, submitted to the Document Compliance Unit ("DCU") of the Baltimore Police Department ("BPD"). Your request is governed by the Maryland Public Information Act ("PIA"), Maryland Code, General Provisions Article ("GP"), Sections 4-101 et seq. DCU will process your request promptly. However, our response may take longer than ten (10) working days, the reasons for which may include the scope of your request, the type and volume of potentially responsive records, and the nature of the search, review, and preparation that is required. In any event, DCU will respond to your request within thirty (30) days. GP § 4-203.

DCU will contact you with the availability of records and the possible costs associated with this request, as soon as the information is made available by the Custodian of Records. Likewise, if DCU and/or the Custodian of Records need you to clarify your request, DCU will contact you promptly.

Please refer to tracking # MPIA 20-1137 in any subsequent correspondence pertaining to this matter. All follow up correspondence should be made in writing and submitted to the DCU's e-mail: DCU@baltimorepolice.org<mailto:DCU@baltimorepolice.org>.

Ken Hurst
Contract Specialist
Baltimore Police Department
Office of Legal Affairs
Document Compliance Unit
410-637-8684

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in or attached to this e-mail message may be a privileged and confidential attorney/client communication, or otherwise confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are notified that any distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the Legal Affairs Division immediately by telephone at 410-396-2496 and DELETE the message from your system immediately.

The materials in this e-mail are private and may contain sensitive law enforcement information. Please note that e-mail is not necessarily confidential or secure. Use of e-mail constitutes your acknowledgment of these confidentiality and security limitations. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited as covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone or return e-mail.

From: Baltimore Police Department

Good Morning:

I just received the emails from IT, the para legal has been advised and will start the process of reviewing and redacting.

Thank you

Ken Hurst
Contract Specialist
Baltimore Police Department
Office of Legal Affairs
Document Compliance Unit
410-637-8684

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in or attached to this e-mail message may be a privileged and confidential attorney/client communication, or otherwise confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are notified that any distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the Legal Affairs Division immediately by telephone at 410-396-2496 and DELETE the message from your system immediately.

The materials in this e-mail are private and may contain sensitive law enforcement information. Please note that e-mail is not necessarily confidential or secure. Use of e-mail constitutes your acknowledgment of these confidentiality and security limitations. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited as covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone or return e-mail.

From: Baltimore Police Department

Good Morning:

The emails are waiting for review. We have several requests for emails that are in the process of trying to be reviewed for release. We only have one para-legal who does the review. Some of the requests ahead of you have over 10,000 to 100,000 emails to be reviewed.
Please be patient as we are working as diligently as possible at the moment.

Thank you

Ken Hurst
Contract Specialist
Baltimore Police Department
Office of Legal Affairs
Document Compliance Unit
410-637-8684

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in or attached to this e-mail message may be a privileged and confidential attorney/client communication, or otherwise confidential, and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are notified that any distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the Legal Affairs Division immediately by telephone at 410-396-2496 and DELETE the message from your system immediately.

The materials in this e-mail are private and may contain sensitive law enforcement information. Please note that e-mail is not necessarily confidential or secure. Use of e-mail constitutes your acknowledgment of these confidentiality and security limitations. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited as covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone or return e-mail.

From: Baltimore Police Department

Good morning,

Please find attached BPD's response in regards to your MPIA request.

Kind regards,

Dana Abdul Saboor
Paralegal
Baltimore Police Department
Legal Affairs
Document Compliance Unit
242 W. 29th Street
Baltimore Maryland, 21211

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