El Paso, TX PD Citizen Complaints

Dear Alexander Cartwright:

Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of El Paso. Your request has been received and is being processed in accordance with Chapter 552 of Texas Government Code, the Public Information Act. Your request was given the reference number W056070-092018 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:Dear Sir or Madam,I am writing to follow up on my original request made on 7/29/17Thank you very much for providing the information we requested. I am writing to ask for some clarification regarding the data on officer-involved shootings you provided us with. What constitutes an officer-involved shooting in your department? For example, some departments do not count misses while others count all discharges; some include shots at animals. Other departments include intentional and accidental shootings; others do not. Some include all discharges and some exclude missed shots. Please explain to us how your department classifies the OIS included in the numbers you sent to us.Very Respectfully, Alex CartwrightHere is my previous request:I am an Economics Professor in the College of Business at Ferris State University, and I am engaged in an empirical research project on police behavior and citizen complaints. This project requires me to request data from your department. If you have questions about my request or suggestions, I would be happy to discuss them with you.1. What is the total number of citizen complaints (allegations of misconduct) made against your department’s officers annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).2. What is the total number of complaints police officers made against their peer officers in department annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).3. What is the total number of calls for service your department received annually for the past 10 years? If your department logs calls for service in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.4. What is the annual number of officers involved in shootings in your department for the past 10 years? Any documentation or reports that detail the annual number of officer-involved shootings in your department for the past 10 years would be sufficient.Please include documentation regarding how many of these officer-involved shootings involved disciplinary action. (Please list officer firearm discharge directed at a person separately from a shooting involving an animal and separately from accidental firearm discharges).Please include the number of officer-involved shootings resulting in discipline.5. Which of the above data are published publicly? Please provide a link to any and all publicly available reports containing the data above.Collecting this information is very important to my research, so I would like to emphasize, if you have questions about my request or suggestions, I would be happy to discuss them with you.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,Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question. PLEASE NOTE: The Texas Public Information Act does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.
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City of El Paso

To track your request and respond, visit the , then click on "View My Open Records Requests." Public Information Center (http://mygovhelp.info/ELPASO//_cs/supporthome.aspx?sSessionID=)

Dear Alexander Cartwright,
Thank you for registering with the City of El Paso Public Information Center. Below you will find your login and password. Please log in to the
Public Information Center to update any contact or password information and to track the progress of your request. (http://mygovhelp.info/elpaso/_cs/supporthome.aspx?sSessionID=)
Login: requests@muckrock.com
Password: Q'='ETI=Qy}J City of El Paso

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

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Good morning. Since this is questions, not a request for any records, I think your best bet to get your questions answered would be to call (915) 212-4000 (Police HQ) and ask for the phone number/e-mail of whoever is the Police Public Information Officer right now (the duty rotates.) That person would be the most likely, I think, to know the answers to your questions.
Mary La Rue
Certified Paralegal
(915) 212-4005

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Hi. Back last year when we got this question from you, the PD told me they don't have any documents that show how the department "classifies officer involved shootings." That's why I suggested that you reach out to the EPPD Public Information Officer for help. Were you able to do that?
Mary
(915) 212-4005

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Hi. I do not have access to police records, so unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. If you want to submit a request for existing records, please feel free to do so, and then at that time, the EPPD Records Division staff people will perform a search and then let me know if any of the records you asked for exist.
Mary