Expenditures relating to visits from federal officials (Baltimore Police Department)

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

23-0473

Multi Request Expenditures relating to visits from federal officials
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: Emma North-Best

To Whom It May Concern:

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

Records describing, authorizing or mentioning expenses or personnel assignments in response to or accommodation of visits from officials in the federal government between January 1, 2001 and the present.

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

Emma Best:

The Baltimore City Law Department ("Law Department") is in receipt of your attached request, which is governed by the Maryland Public Information Act ("PIA"), codified in Sections 4-101 et seq. of the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Code. A request for public information under the PIA must be submitted to the custodian of public records. Md. Code, Gen. Prov., § 4-202(a). Each governmental entity is the custodian of its own records. See Baltimore City Code, Art. 1 § 10-1. This response is on behalf of the Law Department.

The Law Department is not the custodian for the records you requested regarding Expenditures relating to visits from federal officials (Baltimore Police Department) and has no records that are responsive to your request. Please direct your request to the custodian of records in the Baltimore City Police Department's Document Compliance Unit ("DCU"). A list of all record custodians in the State of Maryland, including Baltimore City agencies, can be found at the following link: http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/OpenGov%20Documents/Appendix_J.pdf.

Nothing in this response is intended to indicate that records sought from City agencies exist or to waive any privileges held by the Mayor and City Council. You may contest this response by filing a complaint in Circuit Court pursuant to GP Section 4-362.

Sincerely,

[cid:7836fc7b-866e-4fc0-aea8-3267087dc5aa]<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.baltimorecity.gov%2F&data=04%7C01%7CTimothy.McGee%40baltimorecity.gov%7C95d5d9afd1a64cbd71ad08d8b96cfcc7%7C312cb126c6ae4fc2800d318e679ce6c7%7C0%7C0%7C637463225032478038%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Y925CXgytQA2Ae71nVNyZp34%2B3ghLnV7h7g2LMkir%2Bc%3D&reserved=0>
Department of Law
Timothy McGee
Paralegal
Advice & Opinions Practice Group
Baltimore City Department of Law

100 Holliday Street, Room 151
Baltimore, MD 21202
timothy.mcgee@baltimorecity.gov<mailto:timothy.mcgee@baltimorecity.gov>
Office: (410) 545-3439
Cell: (410) 387-3923

"Nothing beats a failure but a try." - R.J. Smith

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any attachment(s), is intended for receipt and use by the intended addressee(s), and may contain legal or other confidential and privileged information. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use or distribution of this e-mail is strictly prohibited, and requested to delete this communication and its attachment(s) without making any copies thereof and to contact the sender of this e-mail immediately. Nothing contained in the body and/or header of this e-mail is intended as a signature or intended to bind the addressor or any person represented by the addressor to the terms of any agreement that may be the subject of this e-mail or its attachment(s), except where such intent is expressly indicated.

From: Muckrock Staff

Hello,

Please see the following request for records. Thank you for your help with this request.

Sincerely,
MuckRock

From: Baltimore Police Department

*RE: PIA# 23-0473Requesting: Expenditures Relating to
Visits From Federal Officials (Baltimore Police Department)*

Dear Requester:

On February 15, 2023, the Maryland State Police received your request made
under the Public Information Act (Annotated Code of Maryland, General
Provisions Article §§ 4-101 through 4-601) for the information captioned
above.

In order to efficiently and accurately process your request, could you
please verify if you are requesting records from the Baltimore City Police
Department, or if you are requesting records from the Maryland State
Police? It looks like your initial request was submitted to Baltimore City
Police, and the most recent follow up to your initial request appears to be
addressed to the Baltimore City Police Department as well.

Please be advised, Maryland State Police does not maintain records from
local law enforcement agencies.

Once clarification is received regarding your request, it will take us more
than 10 working days to produce the requested records. The delay is due to
the time required to perform a thorough search of our records and to
conduct the necessary review process. Once all of the records have been
collected, they must be reviewed to determine whether they are, in whole or
in part, exempt from disclosure under the Act. If any are to be withheld
or redacted, an explanation will be provided. If there is a fee associated
with the processing of the request, you will receive an itemized invoice.

We believe that we will be able to respond to your request within 30 days
of the date it was received.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns
regarding your request.

Sincerely,

Sara Rinta
Public Information Act Coordinator

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: MSP P&R Copier <msp.noreply@maryland.gov>
Date: Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 3:47 PM
Subject: Attached Image
To: Sara Rinta <saram.rinta@maryland.gov>

--

[image: Changing Maryland for the Better]

*Sara Rinta*

PIA Coordinator - Analysis & Transparency Section

Maryland Department of State Police

Headquarters / Planning & Research

1201 Reisterstown Rd

Pikesville, MD 21208

410-653-4480 (Office)

saram.rinta@maryland.gov

Website <https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/MarylandStatePolice>| Twitter
<https://twitter.com/MDSP>

From: Baltimore Police Department

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sara M. Rinta -State Police- <saram.rinta@maryland.gov>
Date: Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 4:03 PM
Subject: Fwd: Attached Image
To: <requests@muckrock.com>
Cc: MSP MEDIA -State Police- <msp.media@maryland.gov>

*RE: PIA# 23-0473Requesting: Expenditures Relating to
Visits From Federal Officials (Baltimore Police Department)*

Dear Requester:

On February 15, 2023, the Maryland State Police received your request made
under the Public Information Act (Annotated Code of Maryland, General
Provisions Article §§ 4-101 through 4-601) for the information captioned
above.

In order to efficiently and accurately process your request, could you
please verify if you are requesting records from the Baltimore City Police
Department, or if you are requesting records from the Maryland State
Police? It looks like your initial request was submitted to Baltimore City
Police, and the most recent follow up to your initial request appears to be
addressed to the Baltimore City Police Department as well.

Please be advised, Maryland State Police does not maintain records from
local law enforcement agencies.

Once clarification is received regarding your request, it will take us more
than 10 working days to produce the requested records. The delay is due to
the time required to perform a thorough search of our records and to
conduct the necessary review process. Once all of the records have been
collected, they must be reviewed to determine whether they are, in whole or
in part, exempt from disclosure under the Act. If any are to be withheld
or redacted, an explanation will be provided. If there is a fee associated
with the processing of the request, you will receive an itemized invoice.

We believe that we will be able to respond to your request within 30 days
of the date it was received.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns
regarding your request.

Sincerely,

Sara Rinta
Public Information Act Coordinator

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: MSP P&R Copier <msp.noreply@maryland.gov>
Date: Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 3:47 PM
Subject: Attached Image
To: Sara Rinta <saram.rinta@maryland.gov>

--

[image: Changing Maryland for the Better]

*Sara Rinta*

PIA Coordinator - Analysis & Transparency Section

Maryland Department of State Police

Headquarters / Planning & Research

1201 Reisterstown Rd

Pikesville, MD 21208

410-653-4480 (Office)

saram.rinta@maryland.gov

Website <https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/MarylandStatePolice>| Twitter
<https://twitter.com/MDSP>

--

[image: Changing Maryland for the Better]

*Sara Rinta*

PIA Coordinator - Analysis & Transparency Section

Maryland Department of State Police

Headquarters / Planning & Research

1201 Reisterstown Rd

Pikesville, MD 21208

410-653-4480 (Office)

saram.rinta@maryland.gov

Website <https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/MarylandStatePolice>| Twitter
<https://twitter.com/MDSP>

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