BLM comms (Cleveland Police Department)

Dear Emma Best,
Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Cleveland. Your request has been received and is being processed in accordance with the Ohio Sunshine Laws. Your request was received in this office on 6/8/2020 and has been given the reference number P008506-060820 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Ohio Open Records Law, 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 business days.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAVU4bGnxl6w3Xzoo_7VqUR_Lc%3A1jiMQ3%3ALhmO8XlXVH3RPqmwCnLlRAIFnfY&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fcleveland-police-department-661%252Fblm-comms-cleveland-police-department-94655%252F%253F
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant city department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question. PLEASE NOTE: The public records law does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you will receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Cleveland Public Records Center. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HT8pjG76DxeqVUQTUsuNsm5BMnuWuXFtfFjz37GCUBGaySSyG7fj0hutUdmPPqsaZIS2-2FPXDTxebpySbhzDrZks-3DeG2__ZmmLLyl0-2FzBmhiXS8bqDXxrrqYfJsX33qXSM57khAWV18LTG0Xw1mgkfudic2GHnSYCxDj1w7f-2Bl042AYwBptKlxBMqPIotrqsWKr8FUSq8wsLQaj673s4mgZleU3cEoFVM8NJ1nnUe49otmMxa85xpovzlfPah4zDgdT5u6SIm8syTuS7Z2b8lyypAeaI-2FR0lO5XH8XeDaAVkfzvwuXPs3j6IpLTQ7i3I2a2x0ZVS-2BWv-2BIciVxfOKGJV5Lh3pCNfbqCpoRQp4eFbwz9HiQsql7VD68SGHnkZ7Vbpdzsnys3S3zp9eBNKagHXL30koatAcdiqO4qGdy8RxwpXQXdbyUv1ylg8CxP3Q-2BIsoX950iz9kKA6-2FAmyWko-2FRJ13e-2BE)
City of Cleveland - Public Records

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of Reference # P008506-060820 Dear Emma Best, The City of Cleveland received a public record request from you on June 08, 2020. You requested the following: “To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Ohio Open Records Law, 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 business days.

Sincerely,

Emma Best” Based on State ex rel. Glasgow v. Jones, 119 Ohio St 3d, 391 (2008), we are responding that this request is vague and overly broad. If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, you can reply to this email or go to the Cleveland Public Records Center and Send a New Message. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HT8pjG76DxeqVUQTUsuNsm5BMnuWuXFtfFjz37GCUBGaySSyG7fj0hutUdmPPqsaZIS2-2FPXDTxebpySbhzDrZks-3DVPvB_ZmmLLyl0-2FzBmhiXS8bqDXxrrqYfJsX33qXSM57khAWV18LTG0Xw1mgkfudic2GHnSYCxDj1w7f-2Bl042AYwBptE5URJoMfHLFcOrrSjf7-2FLTWPgeJES1nBWUR7UcfO6TOKhrjjpE39arFNpRNJmxFHlXtmBZrgAw4i61pHUfhQo9EYH5eqOwHkZlLrOXDd0PmB05qjGmB7yeZUcZ8Aq6D6oNBjotfCroNvtsvCs4SqsJZ7q271Nwfwz2jZhwb5czC2AdHy2ATudzQidc9LzCWUplvxwMjB-2Ft-2FwcppjS-2FHQhHtHImF0M1J6ZouGkFez-2FC7qoObZ-2FtkrcKIqTzwD1jRlde3yQ-2BnGyIPBN5FJ7fa0NZ1zin3fBa1FLm-2FKBTPh-2F3j)
Sincerely, City of Cleveland - Public Records