Police department misconduct allegations and disciplinary proceedings

Beryl Lipton filed this request with the Crawford Police Department of Crawford, NY.

It is a clone of this request.

Status
Completed

Communications

From: Beryl Lipton

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

All materials and records describing and sufficient to show/disclose all allegations of misconduct made and all disciplinary proceedings taken against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency.

As described in the New York Freedom of Information Law, a record is "any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs, rules, regulations or codes." Records kept in a digital or electronic form are also records, would be responsive to this request, and should be provided.

These records are typically required to be retained under the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 (http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/retention_mu-1), including, but not limited to, item no. 365, which includes: "Investigative records and disciplinary proceedings, including but not limited to statement of charge, transcript of hearing, notice of decision, letter of termination or resignation, letter of reinstatement, record of appeal procedure, and correspondence." While materials under that schedule have a set retention of 3 years after the final decision rendered, this request and materials responsive to it include *all* records held in the possession of any office or individual employed or formerly employed by this policing agency, including those kept off-site, in digital form, and in personnel files.

Please note that any failure to provide all potentially-responsive materials and/or the destruction of materials potentially responsive to this request would be a violation of the spirit of the New York Freedom of Information Law, as well as unlawful under the New York FOIL and the terms of the attached litigation hold notice.

Materials responsive to this request include — but are not limited to — all complaints, reports, records of discipline and penalties, aggregate collections of complaint and disciplinary materials (spreadsheets, databases), investigatory materials, relevant related correspondence, photographs, video, other related evidence, proof of discipline or fulfillment of penalties, and all personnel materials (including those used in promotion, contract, and other employment negotiations and considerations) that reference or utilize misconduct allegations or disciplinary materials of any sort.

Materials responsive to this request include all complaints— internal, external, and civilian — and include records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident/complaint: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the investigation, investigatory materials, the disposition of the case, and any subsequent materials related to the execution of any resultant discipline. Responsive materials include all complaints and allegations against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency, regardless of whether that complaint or allegation resulted in any investigation or disciplinary action.

Responsive materials also include all records of use of force by officers, including records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the use of force, subsequent investigatory materials related to the use of force, the disposition of any investigation into the incident, and any subsequent materials related to the use of force.

Please provide materials on a rolling basis, beginning with materials created during the following timeframes:
• January 1, 2010 - June 15, 2020
• January 1, 2000 - January 1, 2010
• January 1, 1990 - January 1, 2000
• January 1, 1980 - January 1, 1990
• January 1, 1970 - January 1, 1980

Pursuant to NYCRR Section 1401.5(c)(1), should any of this request be unclear or lack sufficient description for your office, please provide direction that would enable this requester to request records reasonably described. Please also note that the New York FOIL states: "An agency shall not deny a request on the basis that the request is voluminous or that locating or reviewing the requested records or providing the requested copies is burdensome because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any other basis if the agency may engage an outside professional service to provide copying, programming or other services required to provide the copy...." Please also see FOIL AO 19671, an Advisory Opinion from the Committee on Open Government [https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f19671.htm].

If your office has questions about this request or would like to discuss it for any reason, please contact this requester via the contact email address provided and feel free to follow up by phone: 617-299-1832. This request is being submitted to each policing agency in New York as part of a collaborative project led by MuckRock and involving multiple other educational and journalistic partners and participants. For this reason, over the lifetime of this request, your agency may interface with individuals not listed on this initial communication.

This request is being made in the public interest by a news organization as part of non-profit (not commercial) journalistic work and research on behalf of the public. 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 and as part of the necessary negotiations for successful processing. As far as it is possible, please fulfill elements of this request 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,

Beryl Lipton

From: Crawford Police Department

Your request is currently under review.

All available data should be available within 30 days

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

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This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
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received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

Dear Ms. Lipton:
I have reviewed your FOIL request sent to the Crawford Police Dept on June 17. The Town will provide records in accordance with FOIL and other applicable laws and regulations. We will try to provide an initial set of records within 60-90 business days. Given the scope of this request, I cannot say at this time when the request can be fulfilled.

Thank you.

Jessica Kempter
Town Clerk
Town of Crawford
121 State Route 302
Pine Bush, NY 12566

(845) 744-2020
(845) 744-3126 FAX
TownClerk@TownofCrawford.org<mailto:TownClerk@TownofCrawford.org>
[INTROSTAR]<https://www.introstar.com/Town_of_Crawford_Small_Business_and_Tourism_Center>
[Facebook]<https://www.facebook.com/CrawfordNY/>

From: Crawford Police Department

Here is an additional response to your request

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D65B53.062B4300][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

Attached is a notification of an extension of time in fulfilling y our request

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D6A06D.24F0D250][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

I am in receipt of your request and am in the process of gathering all of the information that was requested

After a review I will provide all appropriate information on or about March 1, 2021

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image001.png@01D6DD10.8AB9B590][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

Our response is delayed as we work through the Executive Order.

The report is due by April 1 and the 50 A report will be completed soon after

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D70E6F.5EF719D0][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello, Chief Blasko —

Many thanks for your most recent communication regarding this FOIL request. Could you please provide to me an update on where processing currently stands?

Wishing you the best,
Beryl

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello, Chief Blasko —

I hope this message finds you very well. I'm hoping that I can receive an update on the processing of my FOIL request. Please let me know what you can when you can.

Thank you so much. I hope you have a great weekend.

Best wishes,
Beryl

From: Crawford Police Department

I apologize for the delay.

With the various court case in regards to this, I am in the process of reviewing with counsel.

Please check back around December 1, 2021

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D7D49C.FEEF47C0][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello, Chief Blasko —

I hope this message finds you very well.

I'm writing to ask whether you have any additional updates about the status of this request. I'll look forward to hearing from your office again.

Wishing you the best,
Beryl

From: Crawford Police Department

I have requested the report from our town attorney and am waiting for a response

Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

From: Crawford Police Department

As a follow up to my last message

We expect to have information for you in the coming days but no later than 12/22/2021

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D7EC43.99D66E90][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

I have checked with the town attorney as to why it is not completed I am awaiting a response

Dominick L Blasko
Chief of Police
Crawford Police Department
121 State Route 302 Pine Bush, New York 12556
(845) 744-3300 (TCPD Desk)
(845) 744-6908 (Fax)
d.blasko@townofcrawford.org<mailto:dlblasko@aol.com> (Email)

The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. ---
Henry Clay – American Statesman

[cid:image003.png@01D84348.B7E45350][Description: NA-Logo-238]

This transmission may contain confidential or privileged information,
which is intended only for use by the individual or entity to which the
transmission is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, copying or
distribution of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you
received this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately.

From: Crawford Police Department

I have received the report and will review and release before July 1, 2022

From: Crawford Police Department

Attached are the files requested

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