Masked LEOs (Dallas Police Department)

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RE: PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST of 9/14/2021, Reference #D029981-091421 Dear Emma, The Dallas Police Department received a public information request from you on 9/14/2021. Your request mentioned: “To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Policies, including implementation, termination and expiration notices, mentioning or discussing mask mandates or requirements for employees.

2. Reports regarding alleged violations of or non-compliance with mask mandates or requirements.

3. Records documenting any disciplinary actions taken regarding Item #2.

4. Emails, letters, memos and other written or memorialized discussions with unions or employee representatives regarding actual or proposed mask mandates or requirements (such as those requested in Item #1).

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, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma North-Best

Upload documents directly:   https://www.muckrock.com/ This letter is to clarify what information that you are seeking from the Dallas Police Department. The City of Dallas (the “City”) is in receipt of your correspondence. You asked for information related to policies, reports, records for disciplinary actions, and communications (emails, letters, memos, etc.) with union representatives pertaining to mask mandates or requirements for employees. Your request for information is unclear or overly broad. The City maintains many types of policies, reports, records, and communications (emails, letters, memos, etc.) with union representatives pertaining to mask mandates or requirements for employees. For the information you seek, please specify and/or identify: (1) the time frame for the policies, reports, records and communications; (2) specific City departments; (3) identify the union or employee representation organization or association(s); (4) key words for email communications ; and (5) whether you are seeking only mandates for employees that relate to masks. Without clarification, your request, as currently worded, could be interpreted to cover any policies, reports, record for disciplinary actions, and communications (emails, letters, memos, etc.) with union representatives pertaining to mask mandates or requirements for employees for any City department. Therefore, pursuant to Section 552.222 of the TPIA, the City requests that you clarify the information you seek and narrow the scope of your request to assist the City to conduct an accurate cost estimate. Please note, the TPIA does not require the City to prepare new information in response to an open records request, to respond to general questions or to conduct general or legal research. Tex. Att’y Gen. ORD Nos. 563 at 8 (1990), 452 at 2–3 (1986), 342 at 3 (1982), 87 (1975). Additionally, some of the records responsive to your request may include information protected by mandatory or discretionary exceptions including, but not limited to, attorney-client privileged information (Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.107) and draft documents (Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.111). Will you agree to the City redacting any and all information covered by a mandatory or discretionary exception without the necessity of a ruling request to the Office of the Attorney General? If you fail to respond to this request for clarification in writing within 61 calendar days from the date of this letter, the City will consider your request for information to have been withdrawn. Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.222(d). You may be able to locate the documents you seek or obtain information to assist you to clarify or narrow the scope of your request by searching the Dallas City Secretary’s web server, accessible at , using the Google Search function. You may still choose to inspect or receive copies of the information you seek. https://dallascityhall.com/government/citysecretary/Pages/CCindex.aspx You can respond to this request for clarification in writing by replying to this email by replying via the Public Information Request System. Once you have responded to this request for clarification, the City will further respond to your Public Information Act Request as required by law, including notifying you of any costs that may be associated with your request for information. Sincerely, Dallas Police Department Open Records Unit