Police Data Collection Request (2021)

Dear Samuel Sinyangwe,

Thank you for submitting your request for public records to the City of Bellevue Police Department. Your request was received in our office on 6/13/2022 1:43:04 AM and given the reference number P002753-061322 for tracking purposes. The details of your request are below.

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. the total number of use of force incidents, separated by type of force and year used in 2021 (for example, information that specifies the number of taser incidents in 2021, baton incidents in 2021, etc.)

2. the total number of civilian complaints alleging any form of law enforcement misconduct that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.

3. the total number of civilian complaints alleging law enforcement use of excessive force that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.

4. the total number of civilian complaints alleging biased policing or racial profiling that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.

5. the total number of civilian complaints alleging criminal conduct that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.

6. the total number of officer involved shootings in 2021, both fatal and non-fatal.

When available, I would appreciate being sent individualized data for each item in this request in spreadsheet format. If individualized data are unavailable, please send information that includes aggregate statistics for the item instead.

Note that my requests for civilian complaints are specifically for civilian complaints alleging police misconduct, please do not include complaints filed by one officer/the department against another officer.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Samuel Sinyangwe

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
The City must provide a preliminary response to your request within five (5) business days (RCW 42.56.520); the day the request is received does not count as one of the five (5) days. Weekends and holidays observed by the City are also excluded in the calculation. For additional information regarding our response options, please click here: Prompt Response Required. The City of Bellevue has adopted a Public Records Fee Schedule, please review it for information associated with fees that may be assessed pursuant to your request.
You may monitor the progress of your request via the link below; you will receive an email when your request has been completed. We thank you for using the Public Records Center.
City of Bellevue Police Department

--- Please respond above this line. Anything below will not be viewable to staff. ---

06/15/2022
Samuel Sinyangwe,
I am writing to update you on the status of your public disclosure request for Bellevue Police Department use of force and complaint data as stated in your original request. We interpret your request as the below, for the below data in excel/spreadsheet format, please let us know by July 1, if the interpretation is not correct: 1. the total number of use of force incidents, separated by type of force and year used in 2021 (for example, information that specifies the number of taser incidents in 2021, baton incidents in 2021, etc.)
2. the total number of civilian complaints (external source complaint, not complaints filed by an internal source) alleging any form of law enforcement misconduct that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.
3. the total number of civilian complaints (external source complaint, not complaints filed by an internal source)alleging law enforcement use of excessive force that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.
4. the total number of civilian complaints (external source complaint, not complaints filed by an internal source) alleging biased policing or racial profiling that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.
5. the total number of civilian complaints (external source complaint, not complaints filed by an internal source) alleging criminal conduct that were reported and the total number sustained in 2021.
6. the total number of officer involved shootings in 2021, both fatal and non-fatal. We interpret this as uses of deadly force involving a firearm discharge. We do not interpret this to mean incidents of accidental discharge where a firearm accidentally discharges during trainings, cleaning, or other unintentional situations.
Please be aware much of the department's data you requested is already accessible online at the Bellevue Police Department's data dashboard on its website: Data Dashboard | City of Bellevue (bellevuewa.gov).  Your request is still considered open and has been forwarded to our Office of Accountability for handling. You should anticipate an additional response from our office by the end of business on 7/6/2022 if not sooner.
If you have any questions regarding your disclosure request or any other matter, please contact the Bellevue Police Department Records Unit via the Public Records Portal or by telephone at (425) 452-6917.
Thank you for your patience,
Bellevue Police Department

--- Please respond above this line. Anything below will not be viewable to staff. ---

06/22/2022
Samuel Sinyangwe,
Information responsive to your request for public records is now available via the City of Bellevue Public Records Portal webpage. Please note that pop-ups must be enabled on your internet browser to access your files for download . Your request is being handled on an installment basis and we predictyour next installment to be ready on or before 7/6/2022. Please also see the prior message, sent to you on 6/15/2022 and requesting a response by 7/01/2022.
Pursuant to the Public Records Act RCW 42.56, responsive records may be redacted or exempt. Please review the accompanying privilege log for further information, if such redactions or exemptions have been applied.
Per the State Public Records Act (RCW 42.56.120) and City Public Records Act Rules (Section 6), a public records request may be considered abandoned and subsequently closed if a requestor fails to fulfill their obligation to claim an installment of records; claim the entire production of records; inspect the records; or fails to pay the deposit or final payment for requested records within 30 days of this notification.
If you believe the information furnished has been incorrectly redacted or is incomplete, you may file a written appeal. The appeal must include your name and address, a copy of the redacted document and a copy of this letter together with a brief statement identifying the basis of the appeal. Please mail your appeal to:
Bellevue Police Department
Attn: Records Supervisor
P.O. Box 90012
Bellevue, WA  98009-9012
Thank you,
Jessica Abbott
Bellevue Police Department RPC 4.4 Inadvertent Disclosure Notification: CR 26 (b) (6) Claw Back Provision *** Please read this notice carefully ***
Dear legal practitioner: Please take notice that we take reasonable precautions to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential materials, including those protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine, when responding to request for records.  These precautions include, but are not limited to, carefully locating and assembling responsive records, performing an intra-departmental review of the records for purposes of determining whether they contain any privileged or confidential materials, forwarding the records to the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for independent legal review, meeting and conferring with the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to compare and reconcile any conflicting results of our separate independent reviews and, if necessary, creating a withholding log.  Despite our having taken these precautions, occasionally a mistake is made and privileged or confidential documents are inadvertently produced.  To that end, we wanted to notify you that there is a possibility that the records being produced may contain privileged or confidential materials.  The inadvertent or unintentional production of privileged or confidential documents, without a privileged or confidentiality designation should not be considered a waiver in whole or in part of any claim of privileged or confidential treatment, and any document that initially is produced without bearing a privileged or confidentiality designation may later be so designated.  In the event that you believe you have received privileged or confidential materials, we would ask that you promptly notify us of this fact and take action as necessary to comply with the obligations set forth in Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4 and/or Civil Rule 26 (b)(6).

--- Please respond above this line. Anything below will not be viewable to staff. ---

06/22/2022
Samuel Sinyangwe,
Information responsive to your request for public records is now available via the City of Bellevue Public Records Portal webpage. Please note that pop-ups must be enabled on your internet browser to access your files for download . Please let us know by 7/01/2022 if our interpretation of your request is not correct. Otherwise, we will close your request as complete at end of business on that day.
Pursuant to the Public Records Act RCW 42.56, responsive records may be redacted or exempt. Please review the accompanying privilege log for further information, if such redactions or exemptions have been applied.
Per the State Public Records Act (RCW 42.56.120) and City Public Records Act Rules (Section 6), a public records request may be considered abandoned and subsequently closed if a requestor fails to fulfill their obligation to claim an installment of records; claim the entire production of records; inspect the records; or fails to pay the deposit or final payment for requested records within 30 days of this notification.
If you believe the information furnished has been incorrectly redacted or is incomplete, you may file a written appeal. The appeal must include your name and address, a copy of the redacted document and a copy of this letter together with a brief statement identifying the basis of the appeal. Please mail your appeal to:
Bellevue Police Department
Attn: Records Supervisor
P.O. Box 90012
Bellevue, WA  98009-9012
Thank you,
Jessica Abbott
Bellevue Police Department RPC 4.4 Inadvertent Disclosure Notification: CR 26 (b) (6) Claw Back Provision *** Please read this notice carefully ***
Dear legal practitioner: Please take notice that we take reasonable precautions to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential materials, including those protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine, when responding to request for records.  These precautions include, but are not limited to, carefully locating and assembling responsive records, performing an intra-departmental review of the records for purposes of determining whether they contain any privileged or confidential materials, forwarding the records to the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for independent legal review, meeting and conferring with the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to compare and reconcile any conflicting results of our separate independent reviews and, if necessary, creating a withholding log.  Despite our having taken these precautions, occasionally a mistake is made and privileged or confidential documents are inadvertently produced.  To that end, we wanted to notify you that there is a possibility that the records being produced may contain privileged or confidential materials.  The inadvertent or unintentional production of privileged or confidential documents, without a privileged or confidentiality designation should not be considered a waiver in whole or in part of any claim of privileged or confidential treatment, and any document that initially is produced without bearing a privileged or confidentiality designation may later be so designated.  In the event that you believe you have received privileged or confidential materials, we would ask that you promptly notify us of this fact and take action as necessary to comply with the obligations set forth in Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4 and/or Civil Rule 26 (b)(6).

--- Please respond above this line. Anything below will not be viewable to staff. ---

07/05/2022
Samuel Sinyangwe,
Information responsive to your request for public records is now available via the City of Bellevue Public Records Portal website. Pop-ups must be enabled on your internet browser to access your files for download . This concludes our search of records in the custody of the Bellevue Police Department. As we have not received a response from you advising our interpretation was incorrect, your request is now closed; we have nothing additionally responsive to this request.

Pursuant to the Public Records Act RCW 42.56, responsive records may be redacted or exempt. Please review the accompanying privilege log for further information, if such redactions or exemptions have been applied.
Per the State Public Records Act (RCW 42.56.120) and City Public Records Act Rules (Section 6), a public records request may be considered abandoned and subsequently closed if a requestor fails to fulfill their obligation to claim an installment of records; claim the entire production of records; inspect the records; or fails to pay the deposit or final payment for requested records within 30 days of this notification.
If you believe the information furnished has been incorrectly redacted or is incomplete, you may file a written appeal. The appeal must include your name and address, a copy of the redacted document and a copy of this letter together with a brief statement identifying the basis of the appeal. Please mail your appeal to:
Bellevue Police Department
Attn: Records Supervisor
P.O. Box 90012
Bellevue, WA  98009-9012
Thank you,
Jessica Abbott
Bellevue Police Department RPC 4.4 Inadvertent Disclosure Notification: CR 26 (b) (6) Claw Back Provision *** Please read this notice carefully ***
Dear legal practitioner: Please take notice that we take reasonable precautions to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential materials, including those protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine, when responding to request for records.  These precautions include, but are not limited to, carefully locating and assembling responsive records, performing an intra-departmental review of the records for purposes of determining whether they contain any privileged or confidential materials, forwarding the records to the County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for independent legal review, meeting and conferring with the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to compare and reconcile any conflicting results of our separate independent reviews and, if necessary, creating a withholding log.  Despite our having taken these precautions, occasionally a mistake is made and privileged or confidential documents are inadvertently produced.  To that end, we wanted to notify you that there is a possibility that the records being produced may contain privileged or confidential materials.  The inadvertent or unintentional production of privileged or confidential documents, without a privileged or confidentiality designation should not be considered a waiver in whole or in part of any claim of privileged or confidential treatment, and any document that initially is produced without bearing a privileged or confidentiality designation may later be so designated.  In the event that you believe you have received privileged or confidential materials, we would ask that you promptly notify us of this fact and take action as necessary to comply with the obligations set forth in Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4 and/or Civil Rule 26 (b)(6).