Police Liability payout record request from Sun Sentinel (Hialeah Police Department)
| Multi Request | Police Liability payout record request from Sun Sentinel |
| Submitted | Jan. 29, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Mario Ariza
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Florida Sunshine Law, I hereby request the following records:
I hope this message finds you well. This is a public records request from a member of a media organization, pursuant to Florida Statute 119. In furtherance of an article investigating police misconduct payouts across the county over the past decades, we are seeking documents that show how much your municipal corporation, its legal representatives, or its liability insurance carriers have paid out in civil court since 01/01/2010 because of the actions of its police professionals.
To that end, we kindly request the electronic delivery of an excel spreadsheet with the following information:
- An identifying number for the claim
- The loss date
- An incident indicator description (such as “excessive force, k-9 bite, false arrest/imprisonment, etc.)
- Incurred expenses
- Incurred liability
- Incurred legal expenses
- Paid legal expenses
- Paid total
- Incurred total
This records pull should be interpreted to cover both federal and state court claims. If some of the above figures are not available because of your accounting practices, please endeavor to provide us with as full a picture as possible of the $$$ paid out by your municipality due to lawsuits against its police officers over the past ten years.
Upon request, we can provide a spreadsheet obtained from the BSO that can serve as an example and guide for what we are looking for. Please do feel free to reach out via email or phone should you have any questions.
Very Best
Mario Alejandro Ariza
Federal Courts Reporter
South Florida Sun Sentinel
786.210.6548
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.
Sincerely,
Mario Ariza
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Florida Sunshine Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Florida Sunshine Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Hialeah Police Department
Good morning,
We are in receipt of your public records request.
You can access the City's ordinance, codified at Section 2-871 in the Code, which describes the costs for this service through the following link https://library.municode.com/fl/hialeah/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH2AD_ARTVFI_DIV2FECH_S2-871DUCEPUDO .
Attached you will also find the City's policy on public records. These provisions are consistent with Florida law and we hope you will find them informative as we fulfill your request.
Please be advised that processing your public records request may require extensive use of information technology resources, and/or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance. The City has determined that any request that requires more than fifteen minutes to locate, gather, review, redact, copy or make records available for inspection is an extensive request. These services will be charged at the hourly rate of the least paid employee capable of performing the task according to the City's policy.
The law requires that we respond to your request within a reasonable time not the quickest possible response time. Reasonable time includes time necessary to search for records, review and redact the records for exempt or confidential material, copy the records or make them available for inspection.
At this time, we will forward your request to the appropriate departments in the City to determine whether any records within the department are responsive to your request. Once we have had an opportunity to conduct an internal search, we will prepare a cost estimate for time and resources necessary to provide you with your records, if any, as provided by the City's policy.
Thank you,
Daniella Miret
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820
________________________________
________________________________
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
From: Hialeah Police Department
Good morning,
We are in receipt of your public records request.
You can access the City's ordinance, codified at Section 2-871 in the Code, which describes the costs for this service through the following link https://library.municode.com/fl/hialeah/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH2AD_ARTVFI_DIV2FECH_S2-871DUCEPUDO .
Attached you will also find the City's policy on public records. These provisions are consistent with Florida law and we hope you will find them informative as we fulfill your request.
Please be advised that processing your public records request may require extensive use of information technology resources, and/or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance. The City has determined that any request that requires more than fifteen minutes to locate, gather, review, redact, copy or make records available for inspection is an extensive request. These services will be charged at the hourly rate of the least paid employee capable of performing the task according to the City's policy.
The law requires that we respond to your request within a reasonable time not the quickest possible response time. Reasonable time includes time necessary to search for records, review and redact the records for exempt or confidential material, copy the records or make them available for inspection.
At this time, we will forward your request to the appropriate departments in the City to determine whether any records within the department are responsive to your request. Once we have had an opportunity to conduct an internal search, we will prepare a cost estimate for time and resources necessary to provide you with your records, if any, as provided by the City's policy.
Thank you,
Daniella Miret
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820
________________________________
________________________________
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Florida Sunshine Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Florida Sunshine Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Florida Sunshine Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Hialeah Police Department
Good morning,
The cost estimate associated with your request includes a special service charge based on the labor cost, which consists of the employee's salary and benefits, providing the service of compiling the records, and reviewing the records for any confidential or exempt information. Please note that the special service charge is for time spent in excess of fifteen minutes. The cost estimate for the records in response to your request is as follows: Four hours and forty five minutes to research and compile information based on the labor cost of the least paid employee capable of performing the work at the rate of $15.00 per hour, for a total of $71.25.
The City of Hialeah is willing to fulfill this public records request, but we are asking for a deposit before we begin. The City of Hialeah requires a deposit of half of the estimated cost, which is $35.62.
Please note that the cost estimate does not include the estimated time it may take to review and redact the records.
Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Payments with cash or credit cards can be made in person at the Cashier's Office. Please arrive prior to 11:15 a.m. or after 12:30 p.m. due to that, the Cashier's Office is closed for lunch from 11:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. and is closed for the day at 3:15 p.m.
Upon receipt of your deposit, we will begin to process your request.
Thank you,
Daniella Miret
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820
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