Records for the Delaware Police Accrediation Commission

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Delaware's Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Requesting copies of the following documents: (1) complete application for accreditation submitted by the Delaware Capitol Police to the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission; (2) the completed assessment used by the commission to approve the Delaware Capitol Police's accreditation; (3) agendas and meeting minutes for commission meetings where the accreditation of the Delaware Capitol Police was discussed; (4) documents sufficient as the to detail the evaluation criteria or standards used by the commission to award accreditation; and (5) documents sufficient as to detail the qualifications and selection criteria for an individual to be named as an assessor for the accreditation commission.

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 fees cannot be waived, 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 15 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Michael Dworiak

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Ms. Chandler:

Regarding item 4 of my FOIA request, I am seeking the evaluation guide, assessor manual or other document that details the specific requirements that agencies are being evaluated against. For example, in the documents already provided it states that the Agency met the requirements of 1.1.2. I am seeking the document that details what 1.1.2 means.

Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Ms. Chandler:

This email is in response to the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security denial to produce the evaluation guide, assessor manual or other document that details the specific requirements that agencies are being evaluated against made through a FOIA request. Please accept this email as my administrative appeal to the Department prior to a formal petition to the Attorney General.

The Department is identifying the entire manual as being exempt because it details response procedures or plans prepared to prevent or respond to emergency situations, the disclosure of which would reveal vulnerability assessments, specific tactics, specific emergency procedures or specific security procedures.

The DPAC assessment process is to identify if a specific agency has policies and procedures in place to meet a minimum set of general requirements set by the DPAC. The assessor manual does not detail any specific procedures or any one agency. Further, the general requirements for accreditation cover a broad range of requirements to include policies and procedures that have nothing to do with confidential law enforcement techniques or tactics.

In Office of the Public Defender v. Delaware State Police decided March 31, 2003 the court determined that “State Police manuals are public records”. More applicable is Delaware Attorney General Opinion 05-1B-19 that specifically addressed law enforcement policies. The Attorney General determined that sections of a policies and procedures manual that contact “confidential law enforcement techniques and procedures” could be withheld however the remainder of the policy manual that contains non-confidential techniques and “all administrative materials, even if included in staff manuals that otherwise concern law enforcement, must be disclosed.

Further, the Attorney General relying on federal precedent of FOIA determined that “confidential techniques” are only those that are not already widely known to the public. This precedent has required agencies such as the FBI to disclose policies and procedures regarding undercover operation, intelligence gathering and other law enforcement disciplines with the policies being produced with limited redaction.

Based on the aforementioned case law and Attorney General Opinion if a policy or procedure is not exempt under FOIA then the Department’s claim of exemption for the DPAC’s assessor manual that details the minimum requirements for those very same non-exempt policies is misplaced.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Ms. Chandler:

I am following up on the status of the review.

Thank you.