Ransomware incidents (Dallas Police Department)

RE: PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST of 8/26/2021, Reference #D027682-082621

Dear Emma,

The Dallas Police Department received a public information request from you on 8/26/2021. Your request mentioned:
“To Whom It May Concern:

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

Documents, including but not limited to emails, memos, and incident reports, mentioning or describing any reported or encountered incidents of "ransomware," which may be loosely defined as a type of malware that threatens to permanently encrypt and/or unless a ransom is paid.

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/
The information you requested may require additional time to retrieve. The time length will depend on the information you are requesting along with the divisions or units responsible for retrieving the responsive documents. Other factors affecting the processing of your request may include research, processing, redactions and copying. In compliance with the Government Code 552.221(d), the Open Records Unit the information may be provided within 20 business days from the date of this letter, by 10:00 am. anticipates The Open Records Unit apologizes for
this delay in fulfilling your request. If you need any information, please feel
free to check the status of your request by selecting  " View My Request" or you may contact the
Open Records Unit by calling 214-671-3148.

Police Records Request - D027682-082621
Sincerely,
Dallas Police
Department Open Records Unit Effective September 1,
2019, the process for requesting public records from the City of Dallas will
change in response to the state’s adoption of Senate Bill 944. The Texas
Legislature amended the Public Information Act to specify exactly how members
of the public may submit a public information request to a governmental agency. Accordingly,
please submit all open records requests as follows:
https://dallastx.govqa.us/WEBAPP//_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=197006

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST of 8/26/2021, Reference #D027682-082621
Dear Emma,
The Dallas Police Department received a public information request from you on 8/26/2021. Your request mentioned:
“To Whom It May Concern:

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

Documents, including but not limited to emails, memos, and incident reports, mentioning or describing any reported or encountered incidents of "ransomware," which may be loosely defined as a type of malware that threatens to permanently encrypt and/or unless a ransom is paid.

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.
CLARIFICATIONS
This letter requesting clarification is being made pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.222.  Please be advised that if the Dallas Police Department does not receive a written response within sixty-one (61) days from the date of this letter, the underlying request for public information will be considered to have been withdrawn in accordance with § 552.222. Please respond in writing the following information: date, time, and the location of the incident. If you have the incident number available, please include the number in your response. In order to Facilitate your request please provide more detailed information as to what you are requesting.
You may provide a response by any of the following methods:
1. by replying to this electronic mail
2. by replying via the Public Information Request System
Upon receipt of your clarification, the Dallas Police Department will further respond to your Public Information Act Request as required by law, including providing you with an estimate of costs associated with producing the requested records.
Sincerely,
Dallas Police Department Open Records Unit