Police Officer performance survey (Cambridge Police Department)
| Submitted | Nov. 3, 2015 |
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Communications
From: Joseph Palin
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:
I am requesting the compliment and complaint records for uniformed officers within your agency in 2014. I am also requesting the total number of uniformed officers that served in 2014.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Joseph Palin
From: Warnick,Jeremy
Good afternoon.
At the end of 2014, we had 278 sworn officers. There were 8 formal complaints filed against the Cambridge Police and 44 commendations (combination of department awards and letters from citizens) recorded.
Please let me know if I can clarify or address any further questions.
Thank you.
Jeremy Warnick
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Cambridge Police Department
From: Joseph Palin
Greetings Mr. Warnick,
First, thank you for your prompt response. In addition to the statistics you provided, I am also requesting copies (electronic) of the actual complaint and commendation documents.
Thank you for your ongoing assistance.
Joseph Palin
From: Warnick,Jeremy
Mr. Palin,
It is estimated that it will take multiple parties from the Cambridge Police Department approximately nineteen (19) hours to process your request of all relevant records. The applicable hourly rates are $15.45 ($15.45 x 12 hours = $185.40), $20 ($20 x 2 hours = $40.00) and $30 ($30 x 5 hours = $150.00). It is also estimated that four hundred and ninety five (495) responsive documents exist, which would be copied and scanned for a fee of $.20 per page (495 x .20 = $99). Therefore, the total fee estimate is $474.40 ($375.40 + $99.00).
This amount is payable in advance of the City actually complying with your request. You may pay by check payable to the City of Cambridge and sent to my attention.
This is an estimate. If the amount you pay turns out to be more than was necessary to comply with your request, you will be refunded the difference. If the estimate turns out to be too little, the City will comply with the request to the extent paid for and will submit a new estimate to you to complete the response.
Jeremy Warnick
Director of Communications & Media Relations
Cambridge Police Department
125 Sixth Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
From: Joseph Palin
Greetings again Mr. Warnick,
Thank you for the cost break down of my request. Unfortunately for me, the price on those records was much more than I had anticipated, and I am going to need to downsize my request to a minimum.
Would you tell me how much it would cost to supply a breakdown of just the number of complaints and commendations per officer (for each officer with at least 1 commendation or complaint recorded)?
Thank you for your continued assistance,
Joseph Palin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 3, 2015. 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: Warnick,Jeremy
Mr. Palin,
We have been processing a breakdown of the number of officers who have received at least one commendation and/or formal complaint in 2014.
41 officers have received at least one commendation and/or formal complaint. Of those 41 officers, 8 of them received more than one commendation. None of our officers received more than one complaint.
Please let us know if this information satisfies what you were looking for.
Jeremy
From: Joseph Palin
Thank you Mr. Warnick,
This is indeed the information I am looking for. I would only ask for a slight elaboration/confirmation on the numbers.
You said there were 8 complaints filed in 2014, 1 for each of 8 officers. Would you specify how many of these officers had 0 commendations, 1 commendation, 2 commendations et cetera?
If there were 41 officers with a complaint and/or commendation to their name and 8 officers had complaints, I take it that there were 33 officers with at least 1 commendation for 2014? Like with the above, how many had 1 commendation, 2 commendations, et cetera?
Thank you in advance for this last piece of help.
Sincerely,
Joseph palin
From: Warnick,Jeremy
Mr. Palin,
Thank you for your follow-up.
My apologies, but I need to issue a correction on the data last provided to you.
· There were 15 total complaints filed against the department in 2014 either through our Professional Standards Unit or through the Police Review and Advisory Board (independent department).
· Of those, 11 officers received a complaint. The others weren’t directed at a specific officer.
· One of the 11 officers received two (2) complaints in 2014.
· 10 of the officers received one complaint.
· Four of the officers received one complaint and at least one commendation.
· Two of the officers received one complaint and at least two commendations (one received three commendations and one complaint).
34 officers (one of which is a civilian) received at least one commendation.
· 6 of those officers received at least two commendations
· 3 of those officers received at least three commendations
· 1 of those officers received four commendations
My apologies for the data confusion. Please reference the above.
If you need further clarity, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Jeremy
Files
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