Marc J. Havay Fact Finding
| Submitted | July 12, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Robert Havay
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Salary scale of all Bloomsburg PD employees by rank Chief, Lieutenant, Sgt., Detective, Patrol Officers.)
2) Method used to ID victim (Marc J. Havay) and copy of the document proof of Identification sign-off sheet.
3) Fact finding Interview conducted with family members.
4) Detective Beck’s complete In-Service-training file including Weapons, Chemical agents , Baton Qualification and Response training Serving High Risk Warrants, Felon Traffic stop and active shooter training.
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,
Robert Havay
From: Police Department
RTK request are to be addressed to Sergeant Lewis Carl, Right to Know Officer for the Bloomsburg Police Department. He can be reached at lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org<mailto:lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org>
Roger F. Van Loan
Chief of Police
Roger F. Van Loan
Bloomsburg Police
119 E. 7th St.
Bloomsburg Pa. 17815
(570) 784-4155 Ext. 168
rvanloan@bloomsburgpa.org<https://bl2prd0510.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=0ydjN22Bv06ehvR3eMegawkaludh088IpEJf_Rmta8vQiTs5AsZqd5vieAXM5NBDOBJZPyh5NnQ.&URL=mailto%3arvanloan%40bloomsburgpa.org>.
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The contents of this email, any documents, files or previous email messages attached to it, are for the intended recipient(s) only and may contain information that is privileged and/or confidential. Nothing in this email is intended to constitute a waiver of any privilege or the confidentiality of this message. If you have received this email in error, please notify me immediately by reply email and destroy this message and attachments without disclosing, copying, distributing, or using any information contained in or attached to this transmission. Any information contained in this message is strictly for informational purposes and may not be used as a part of a training or prosecution without expressed, written permission to the sender.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Salary scale of all Bloomsburg PD employees by rank Chief, Lieutenant, Sgt., Detective, Patrol Officers.)
2) Method used to ID victim (Marc J. Havay) and copy of the document proof of Identification sign-off sheet.
3) Fact finding Interview conducted with family members.
4) Detective Beck’s complete In-Service-training file including Weapons, Chemical agents , Baton Qualification and Response training Serving High Risk Warrants, Felon Traffic stop and active shooter training.
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,
Robert Havay
From: Police Department
Copy on department letterhead attached
July 20, 2018
Robert Havay
RE: Right-to-Know Law Request
Dear Robert Havay:
Thank you for writing to Bloomsburg Police Department (“Agency”) with your request for information pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL), 65 P.S. 67.101, et. seq. On July 13, 2018 , you requested
1. Salary scale of all Bloomsburg PD employees by rank Chief, Lieutenant, Sgt., Detective, Patrol Officers.)
2. Method used to ID victim (Marc J. Havay) and copy of the document proof of Identification sign-off sheet.
3. Fact finding interview conducted with family members.
4. Detective Beck’s complete In-service training file including Weapons, Chemical agents, Baton Qualifications and Response training Serving High Risk Warrants, Felon Traffic stop and active shooter training.
Pursuant to Section 902(a) of the Right to Know Law, the OOR requires an additional 30 days to respond because (check all that apply):
☐ The request for access requires redaction of a record in accordance with Section 706 of the RTKL;
☒ The request for access requires the retrieval of a record stored in a remote location;
☒ A timely response to the request for access cannot be accomplished due to bona fide and specific staffing limitations;
☐ A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record is a record subject to access under the RTKL;
☐ The requester has not complied with the Agency’s policies regarding access to records;
☐ The requester refuses to pay applicable fees authorized by the RTKL;
☐ The extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period.
The Agency expects to respond to your request on or before August 20, 2018. Duplication fees should not exceed $30.00.
Sincerely,
Sgt. Lewis L. Carl
Open Records Officer
Bloomsburg Police Department
119 East 7th Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
570-784-4155, ext. 161
lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org
Sergeant Lewis L. Carl
Bloomsburg Police Department
119 East 7th Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org
Phone: (570)784-4155 x 161
Phone: (570)317-2846 x 161
Fax:(570)317-2408
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Pennsylvania Right to Know Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 12, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Police Department
August 16, 2018
Via E-mail
Robert Havay
10869 N. Minnewawa Ave.
Clovis, CA 93619
Re: Request for Public Records Received on July 3, 2018 - Final Response
Dear Mr. Havay:
This letter responds to your request for public records that was received by the Bloomsburg Police Department on July 13, 2018. Pursuant to this request, you seek copies of public records (as defined in Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101 et seq. ("RTKL")) consisting of:
1) Salary scale of all Bloomsburg PD employees by rank Chief, Lieutenant, Sgt., Detective, Patrol Officers.)
2) Method used to ID victim (Marc J. Havay) and copy of the document proof of Identification sign-off sheet.
3) Fact finding Interview conducted with family members.
4) Detective Beck's complete In-Service-training file including Weapons, Chemical agents , Baton Qualification
and Response training Serving High Risk Warrants, Felon Traffic stop and active shooter training.
[sic] (Capitalization in original).
Please note at the outset that requests for public records to the Town of Bloomsburg and the Bloomsburg Police Department are generally governed by the RTKL and Resolution No. 12-08-08.01. More specifically, Section 703 of the RTKL directs that requesters may seek access to or copies of records; however, requesters must "identify or describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to enable the agency to ascertain which records are being requested" and requesters may not ask questions. 65 P.S. § 67.703. In addition, Section 705 of the RTKL provides that agencies are not required to create a record that does not otherwise exist or to compile a record in a particular manner in which the agency does not otherwise compile the information. 65 P.S. § 67.705.
Your request is granted in part and denied in part.
While your request may not be a model of clarity, requests No. 1, 2 & 3 seek facts rather than records. You are inquiring what is the salary scale, what was the method used to ID and whether there was a fact finding interview. You are not seeking copies of records that may or may not exist. The Town of Bloomsburg and the Bloomsburg Police Department are not required to create records that do not otherwise exist and are not required to answer questions. Accordingly, your requests No. 1, 2 & 3 are denied.
Since the subject matter of your inquiry is a criminal investigation, please note that criminal investigation records are exempt from disclosure under the RTKL. While your present request No. 2 does not in fact request any criminal investigation records (since it is an inquiry about the criminal investigation rather than a request for records), we call your attention to this exemption since you have already made several RTKL requests (or putative requests) broadly relating to this subject matter.
With respect to your request in No. 4 above for Detective Beck's training file, your request is granted and the records responsive to this request are attached. To the extent that you have requested that the training records contain certain information that is not otherwise contained within the responsive records, this request is denied because the RTKL does not require agencies to create
records that do not otherwise exist. 65 P.S. § 67.705.
Conclusion
You may have a right to appeal this response to your RTKL request, in which case your appeal must be filed within 15 business days of the mailing date of this letter, as provided in Section 1101 of the RTKL. 65 P.S. § 67.1101. Any such appeal must be in writing and filed with the Office of Open Records in compliance with the RTKL and the instructions from the Office of Open Records; except that appeals relating to access to criminal investigative records must be appealed to the Columbia County's Office of the District Attorney. For your convenience, complete instructions on how to file an appeal, is available at http://openrecords.state.pa.us/.
Please note that, at a minimum, an appeal must include copies of (i) your initial request to the Bloomsburg Police Department, (ii) all correspondence between us relating to your request (including this letter); and (iii) the grounds upon which you assert that the information or records sought is a public record and shall address the grounds stated in this correspondence for rejecting or denying the request. 65 P.S. § 67.1101(a)(1). Failure to comply with these or any other applicable requirements may result in the rejection or denial of your appeal.
Respectfully,
Sergeant Lewis L. Carl
Open Records Officer
Bloomsburg Police Department
119 East 7th Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
570-784-4155, ext. 161
lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org
Sergeant Lewis L. Carl
Bloomsburg Police Department
119 East 7th Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
lcarl@bloomsburgpa.org
Phone: (570)784-4155 x 161
Phone: (570)317-2846 x 161
Fax:(570)317-2408
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