Hartford, Connecticut PD Citizen Complaints

Re: Freedom of Information Requests dated August 4, 2017

Dear Mr. Cartwright,

The Hartford Police Department is in receipt of your Freedom of Information requests dated August 04, 2017, received by my office on August 07, 2017.

The Hartford Police Department will make a concerted effort to provide said records within a reasonable time frame, but all requests are processed in the order that they are received, currently there are forty seven (47) requests ahead of yours. Once we have identified the documents you requested, to the extent they exist, you will be notified.

Please be advised, that under the Freedom of Information laws of the State of Connecticut, the City of Hartford is not obligated to create a document that does not exist. This includes putting a document into electronic format when it exists only in hardcopy form.

Sincerely,

Detective Safia Rahman
FOIA Compliance Officer
253 High Street
Hartford, CT 06103
860-757-4339
rahms001@hartford.gov

Good Afternoon Mr. Cartwright,

As per my letter dated August 7, 2017, I continue to work on your FOI request dated August 4, 2017. In order to complete your request, I am still awaiting records from other divisions. Once those records have been provided, said records need to be reviewed and if need be, redacted in accordance with Connecticut General Statute 1-210(b).

I am the only one currently working on HPD FOI requests full time, as such I am unable to give you a specific date as to when your record will be available.

Thank you

Detective Safia Rahman
FOIA Compliance Officer
253 High Street
Hartford, CT 06103
860-757-4339
rahms001@hartford.gov<mailto:rahms001@hartford.gov>

Good Afternoon, Mr. Cartwright and Ms. Dirmeyer

The Hartford Police makes a concerted effort to provide requested records within a reasonable time frame, but all requests are processed in the order that they are received. The Hartford Police Department currently has eighteen (18) requests ahead of yours. Once we have identified the documents you requested, to the extent they exist, you will be notified.

Also, Please keep in mind that if the document you are requesting doesn’t already exist in hard copy then the Hartford Police Department is not required to create such document. Once your request is up for processing we will review the request and provide you with any existing documents that are responsive to your request.

Please be advised that under the Freedom of Information laws of the State of Connecticut, the City of Hartford is not required to create a document that does not already exist. This includes putting a document into electronic format when it exists in hardcopy form.

NOTE: Det. Rahman is no longer assigned as a Freedom of Information Act Liaison. Please send future FOI request to: Police.FOIA@hartford.gov

Respectfully;

Det. Omayra Martinez-Baidy
FOI Liaison
Hartford Police Department
Police.FOIA@hartford.gov
860-757-4251 (O)
860-722-8270 (F)

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 4, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

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On Sept. 18, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 4, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

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On Sept. 3, 2017:
Dectective Rahman,

Thank you very much for the update. Thank you for accommodating our request. I look forward to receiving the data.

Respectfully,
Alex Cartwright
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On Aug. 24, 2017:
Good Afternoon Mr. Cartwright,

As per my letter dated August 7, 2017, I continue to work on your FOI request dated August 4, 2017. In order to complete your request, I am still awaiting records from other divisions. Once those records have been provided, said records need to be reviewed and if need be, redacted in accordance with Connecticut General Statute 1-210(b).

I am the only one currently working on HPD FOI requests full time, as such I am unable to give you a specific date as to when your record will be available.

Thank you

Detective Safia Rahman
FOIA Compliance Officer
253 High Street
Hartford, CT 06103
860-757-4339
rahms001@hartford.gov<mailto:rahms001@hartford.gov<mailto:rahms001@hartford.gov%3cmailto:rahms001@hartford.gov>>
---

On Aug. 22, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 4, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

---

On Aug. 7, 2017:
Re: Freedom of Information Requests dated August 4, 2017

Dear Mr. Cartwright,

The Hartford Police Department is in receipt of your Freedom of Information requests dated August 04, 2017, received by my office on August 07, 2017.

The Hartford Police Department will make a concerted effort to provide said records within a reasonable time frame, but all requests are processed in the order that they are received, currently there are forty seven (47) requests ahead of yours. Once we have identified the documents you requested, to the extent they exist, you will be notified.

Please be advised, that under the Freedom of Information laws of the State of Connecticut, the City of Hartford is not obligated to create a document that does not exist. This includes putting a document into electronic format when it exists only in hardcopy form.

Sincerely,

Detective Safia Rahman
FOIA Compliance Officer
253 High Street
Hartford, CT 06103
860-757-4339
rahms001@hartford.gov<mailto:rahms001@hartford.gov>
---

On Aug. 4, 2017:
Hello,

We have an internal affairs report for 2017 (it has 2016 data). Do you have this report for the years 2007-2015? If not, please respond to me previous request.

Respectfully,
Alex Cartwright
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On Aug. 4, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), I hereby request the following records:

We are Economics Professors in the College of Business at Ferris State University, and are engaged in an empirical research project on police behavior and citizen complaints. This project requires us to request data from your department. If you have questions about this request or suggestions, we 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 our research, so we would like to emphasize, if you have questions about my request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with you.

I also request that, if possible and pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-212(d), fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest and not made for commercial gain. The requested documents will be processed by a representative of the news media/press and made available to the public at MuckRock.com.

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 4 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

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E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
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For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock
DEPT MR 41312
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
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Good Afternoon, Mr. Cartwright

Please be advised there are thirteen (13) requests to be processed ahead of yours.

Please keep in mind that if the document you are requesting doesn’t already exist in hard copy then the Hartford Police Department is not required to create such document. Once your request is up for processing we will review the request and provide you with any existing documents that are responsive to your request.

Under the Freedom of Information laws of the State of Connecticut, the City of Hartford is not required to create a document that does not already exist. This includes putting a document into electronic format when it exists in hardcopy form.

Respectfully;

Det. Omayra Martinez-Baidy
FOI Liaison
Hartford Police Department
Police.FOIA@hartford.gov
860-757-4251 (O)
860-722-8270 (F)

Re: Freedom of Information Request dated August 4, 2017

Dear Mr. Cartwright:

In response to your Freedom of Information Request dated August 4, 2017. The Hartford Police Department has identified and attached the following:

1. Citizen Complaints and Dispositions of Incidents from Jan 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.

* The Hartford Police Department has identified two (2) pages of documents responsive to this request. Please be advised that no further documents exist within the Hartford Police Department responsive to this portion of your request.

1. Calls for Service from 2006 to 2017.

* The Hartford Police Department has identified one (1) responsive record to your request. Please be advised that no further documents exists within the Hartford Police Department responsive to this portion of your request.

1. Hartford Police Officer Involved Shootings from 2007 to 2017.

* The Hartford Police Department has identified four (4) pages of documents responsive to this request. Please be advised that no further document exists within the Hartford Police Department responsive to this portion of your request.

It is the policy of the Hartford Police Department to charge fifty cents per page for the duplication of any document. We have identified a total of seven (7) pages; please submit payment of $ 3.50 at your earliest convenience to the Hartford Police Department c/o Detective Omayra Martinez-Baidy, 253 High Street, Hartford, CT 06103.

Respectfully;

Det. Omayra Martinez-Baidy
FOI Liaison
Hartford Police Department
Police.FOIA@hartford.gov
860-757-4251 (O)
860-722-8270 (F)