Colorado - Traffic Stop Data_1

Dear Ms. Gilson:

I am the managing editor of Peninsula Press, a multimedia news website based out of Stanford University in California. We are working on collecting data on traffic stops and searches made by state patrols across the country. (I previously contacted your agency regarding record layout information about what datapoints your state collects and had received forms that Colorado State Patrol uses.)

Pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
I am requesting the raw data of traffic stops made in your state and laid out in your record description for the last ten (10) years. The fields of data include: trooper IBM# (or officer ID number), incident case #, incident citation #, incident data, incident time, violations, incident location, vehicle plate/VIN, whether a search was conducted, DOB of person, gender of person, race of person, whether the person was arrested, DUID details and whether a medical marijuana card was on person. These were all fields on the form provided by the state. Additionally, if collected, we’d like to request the officer race field and what type of enforcement took place.

The requested data will be analyzed, eventually be made available to the general public and be used for editorial purposes. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. We kindly ask the request be filled electronically. We can accept the data in many common formats, including as CSV, spreadsheet or other database formats. Data can be emailed to vram@stanford.edu or shared via a Dropbox link. In the event data has to be sent physically on a CD or portable drive, please mail to Peninsula Press, Stanford Journalism Program, 450 Serra Mall, Building 120, Stanford, CA 94305.

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. If the cost of filling this request exceeds the fee schedule outlined on the Colorado Secretary of State website (http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/info_center/fees/general.html#CORA), please notify us as well.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within three (3) business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,
Vignesh Ramachandran

Vignesh Ramachandran
Managing Editor, Peninsula Press
Stanford Journalism Program
email vram@stanford.edu
phone 650.723.0703
physical mail 450 Serra Mall, Building 120, Stanford, CA 94305