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Records request from BuzzFeed News: Incident reports for crimes of aggravated assault

Peter Aldhous filed this request with the Hialeah Police Department of Hialeah, FL.
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Peter Aldhous

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Florida's Sunshine Law (Fla. Stat. secs. 119.01 to 119.15 (1995)), I hereby request the following records:

Police incident or arrest reports for all crimes of aggravated assault recorded in 2016 (including descriptions of the incident).

Because aggregated statistics on these crimes are reported annually to the FBI under the Uniform Crime Reporting program by your agency, I believe you retain these records.

This request is made as part of the Documenting Hate Project, a collaboration involving dozens of news organizations including BuzzFeed News, led by ProPublica. Coverage from the project is compiled at https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/hatecrimes#hatecrime-coverage.

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 would request your response within ten (10) business days.

Sincerely,

Peter Aldhous
Science reporter | BuzzFeed News
tel: 415 800 3471
cell: 415 503 7323
989 Market Street, Suite 490
San Francisco CA 94103

From: Hialeah Police Department

Good morning,

We are in receipt of your public records request.

Please be advised that processing said public records request may require extensive use of information technology resources, and/or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance, which will be charged at the hourly rate of the employee(s) performing the service for any request requiring more than fifteen minutes of research. If the inspection of public records requires staff supervision, the requestor shall be charged at the hourly rate of the employee(s) performing the service, if more than fifteen minutes of staff time is required.

We will provide you with a cost estimate as soon as we receive the information.
Best regards,
Eva N. Price Gonzalez
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Hialeah Police Department

Good afternoon,

This request is pending the City Clerk's review.
Best regards,
Eva N. Price Gonzalez
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Hialeah Police Department

Good afternoon,

Your request is ready at the City Clerk's Office.

The cost associated with your request includes a special service charge based on the labor cost of the employee providing the service of compiling the records and reviewing the records for any information that is confidential or exempt. Please note that the special service charge is for time spent in excess of fifteen minutes. The cost for the records in response to your request is as follows: fifteen minutes to research and compile information based on the employee's hourly rate of $15.56, for a total of $3.89.

Our office hours are Mon-Fri from 8:30am -5:00pm. Payments with cash or credit cards can be made in person until 4:15pm.

You may send a check made payable to City of Hialeah and mailed to 501 Palm Avenue, Hialeah, FL 33010, to my attention. Be advised that checks will take longer to process as the check will need to clear prior to releasing the records.

Once payment has been cleared we will email the records.
Best regards,
Eva N. Price Gonzalez
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Peter Aldhous

Dear Eva,

Please excuse the delay in replying - I am in Toronto defending a libel action until April 12. I'm afraid I don't have my checkbook with me, and I'm unable to raise a company check for such a small sum.

Is there any way to make a credit card payment over the phone? I'll aim to call on Monday to discuss.

Sincerely,

--
Peter Aldhous, PhD
Science reporter | BuzzFeed News
tel: 415 800 3471
cell: 415 503 7323
peter.aldhous@buzzfeed.com
@paldhous
www.peteraldhous.com

From: Hialeah Police Department

Good morning,

The cost estimate associated with your request includes a special service charge based on the labor cost of the employee providing the service of compiling the records and reviewing the records for any information that is confidential or exempt. 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: ten hours and ten minutes to research and compile information based on the employee's hourly rate of $15.56, and six hours to review the records for any confidential or exempt information per Florida law based on the employee's hourly rate of $17.90, plus reproduction cost of 1 CD, at a rate of $1.00, for a total of $266.57.

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 is requiring a deposit of half of the estimated cost, which is $133.29.

Our office hours are Mon-Fri from 8:30am -5:00pm. Payments with cash or credit cards can be made in person until 4:15pm.

You may send a check made payable to City of Hialeah and mailed to 501 Palm Avenue, Hialeah, FL 33010, to my attention. Be advised that checks will take longer to process as the check will need to clear prior to releasing the records.

Upon receipt of your deposit we will begin to process your request.
Best regards,
Eva N. Price Gonzalez
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Peter Aldhous

Dear Ms Gonzalez,

Thanks for this estimate. I will request a check for the deposit sum, which should be with you shortly.

Best wishes,

--
Peter Aldhous, PhD
Science reporter | BuzzFeed News
tel: 415 800 3471
cell: 415 503 7323
peter.aldhous@buzzfeed.com
@paldhous
www.peteraldhous.com

From: Hialeah Police Department

Good morning,

Please make check payable to The City of Hialeah and mail to:

Attn: Records Custodian
City of Hialeah
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
Best regards,
Eva N. Price Gonzalez
Public Records Coordinator
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Peter Aldhous

Dear Eva,

Can I confirm that you received the deposit check for $133.29?

And do you have an estimate of when this request will be processed?

Best wishes,

--
Peter Aldhous, PhD
Science reporter | BuzzFeed News
tel: 415 800 3471
cell: 415 503 7323
peter.aldhous@buzzfeed.com
@paldhous
www.peteraldhous.com

From: Muckrock Staff

To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following request, copied below. 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 currently processing your request. Once done with the review for any confidential or exempt information, the city clerk will review and give the okay for release. Once it is ready, if there is a final cost we will notify you.

Thank you,

Daniella Miret
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

From: Peter Aldhous

Thanks. Do keep me informed.

From: Department of Records and Information Services

ssolergonzalez@hialeahfl.gov sent you some files

125 files, 10.4 MB in total
・ Will be deleted on 9 July, 2018

Download link:
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/c1a3c44340b84372e7b9adb1d2e327fb20180702150632/68e31b2bfd95d0d2d00f97dcab3a03fa20180702150632/a4edce

Message:
Good morning,

Please see the attached PDF files in response to your request.

Thank you,
Sylvana Soler-Gonzalez
City of Hialeah
Office of the City Clerk
501 Palm Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33010
(305) 883-5820

125 files

2016041555.pdf
2016008738.pdf
2016030377.pdf
2016012390.pdf
2016017345.pdf

+ 120 more

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From: Peter Aldhous

Dear Sylvana,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Peter Aldhous

Files