Records request from BuzzFeed News: Incident reports for crimes of aggravated assault
| Submitted | Feb. 12, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Peter Aldhous
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Oregon Public Records Law, I hereby request the following documents:
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
From: Hillsboro Police Department
Good Morning,
This letter is an acknowledgement of your records request which we received on February 15, 2018, for the following:
* Police incident or arrest reports for all crimes of aggravated assault recorded in 2016 (including descriptions of the incident).
Our department is in the process of collecting the requested information and will require until
March 17, 2018 to compile, receive required approval for release from the Washington County District Attorney's office or any other governmental agency (if required), review for any potential exemptions, and reproduce the records.
You will be notified if additional time is required. Additionally, should the records be deemed not releasable or can be made available prior to the above date, we will notify you.
Sincerely,
Cheron Gochenour | Police Records Manager
City of Hillsboro, Oregon | Police Department
250 SE 10th Ave, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123
phone 503-615-6654 | fax 503-681-6267
email cheron.gochenour@hillsboro-oregon.gov<mailto:cheron.gochenour@hillsboro-oregon.gov>
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~WRD000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Public Records request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 12, 2018. 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.
From: Hillsboro Police Department
Good Morning,
I wanted to update you with respect to the public records request submitted.
I have reviewed the request and in order to provide a potential estimate of cost, I need to request clarification on what information you are requesting in the descriptions of the incident.
Once I receive clarification, I will prepare an estimate of cost.
Please feel free to contact me if questions.
Kindly,
Cheron Gochenour | Police Records Manager
City of Hillsboro, Oregon | Police Department
250 SE 10th Ave, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123
phone 503-615-6654 | fax 503-681-6267
email cheron.gochenour@hillsboro-oregon.gov<mailto:cheron.gochenour@hillsboro-oregon.gov>
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~WRD000
From: Hillsboro Police Department
Good Morning Mr. Aldhous:
I have researched your records request for police incident or arrest reports for non-domestic violence crimes of aggravated assault recorded in 2016 and found the following information:
There are 91 non-domestic violence reports for crimes of aggravated assault. Pre-payment of ten (10) dollars for each report requested is required prior to processing the request.
The total cost for this request is $910.00. Pre-payment shall be exact cash, business check, money order, or cashier's check.
Please remit $910.00 to:
City of Hillsboro Police Department
Attn: Records Division -ALPR Request
250 SE 10th Street
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Upon receipt of payment, I anticipate it will take approximately 7-14 business days to fulfill the request dependent upon whether or not a record review or record release is required by the Hillsboro Police Department, District Attorney's Office or Juvenile Department.
Kindly,
Cheron
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image001
From: Hillsboro Police Department
One clarification-
Please remit $910.00 to:
City of Hillsboro Police Department
Attn: Records Division -2016 Aggravated Assaults Request
250 SE 10th Street
Hillsboro, OR 97123
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From: Peter Aldhous
Dear Cheron,
Thank you for your cost estimate. However, I am concerned that your flat fee of $10 per record does not appear to be consistent with the requirements of Oregon's Public Records Law, which states:
"The public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the public body for the public body’s *actual cost* of making public records available, including costs for summarizing, compiling or tailoring the public records, either in organization or media, to meet the person’s request."
From other police departments, I am receiving an estimate including a per-page photocopying cost, plus an estimate based on hours of staff time to compile the records. These are all coming in at a fraction of $10 per report, which seems excessive, well in excess of the actual cost of making these records available.
So I would ask you to provide an estimate based on the actual costs of making these records available to me. Please also note that I have requested the records in electronic form, so there should be no reason to charge for making paper copies.
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: Hillsboro Police Department
Good afternoon,
Your email was forwarded for my review related to your concern regarding the fee estimate provided by Records Manager Cheron Gochenour. The city’s policy (attached) conforms with Oregon Public Records Law.
City Public Record Request Policy
https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/home/showdocument?id=69
City Public Record Fee Policy
https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/home/showdocument?id=10654
Page 3 – Police reports $10 per report
When Ms. Gochenour reviewed your request, under City policy the city labor rate is $40/hour. However, she did a brief cost assessment based on estimated time to review and redact reports and recognized it would be significantly more expensive at the labor rate vs. per report rate. Ms. Gochenour elected to charge the per report rate in the estimate she provided you. If you wish us to recalculate the estimated fee at $40/hour city labor rate, we are happy to do so. If you wish to proceed with your request at the reduced per report rate previously quoted, please remit payment of $910.00 as instructed below.
Additionally, we do not have the ability to make the records electronically available to you. If you wish for us to scan the records, save them to a thumb drive and mail them to you, we will quote you the additional cost of the media and mailing fees.
Sincerely,
Cindy
____________________________________________ ____
Cynthia (Cindy) Young Bolek | Support Services Division Manager
City of Hillsboro, Oregon | City of Hillsboro Police Department
phone 503.681.6184 | email cynthia.bolek@hillsboro-oregon.gov<mailto:cynthia.bolek@hillsboro-oregon.gov>
web www.Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/Police<http://www.Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/Police> | Twitter @cityofhillsboro
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From: Peter Aldhous
Dear Cynthia,
Thanks for your note of 27 Mar concerning my public records request.
Here is my understanding of the law:
Fee provisions or practices.
1. Levels or limitations on fees. Under ORS 192.440(4)(a) a fee “reasonably calculated to reimburse” the public body for its actual cost in making the records available may be charged. No more than the actual cost may be charged by a public body. 39 Op. Atty Gen. 721 (1979). In Defense of Animals v. OHSU, 199 Or. App. 160, 112 P.3d 336 (2005). The records custodian has the burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of charges for “actual costs” and must do so with specific supporting data. If such data is absent, the charges are per se not reasonable. In Defense of Animals; Davis v. Walker, 108 Or. App. 128, 814 P.2d 547 (1991). If the fee will exceed $25, a public body must first provide an estimate of the fee and confirm that the requester wants to proceed. ORS 192.440(4)(c).
2. Particular fee specifications or provisions.
a. Search. A per-page charge for copies may include the cost of a routine or extraordinary file search and segregation of exempt material from non-exempt. ORS 192.440(4). The Attorney General has held that public bodies may charge for searches even if no responsive records are located.
b. Duplication. Duplication is limited to actual costs.
c. Other. A public body may charge for its attorney’s time in redacting and segregating exempt and non-exempt records, but it may not charge for any attorney time spent to determine the applicability of exemptions. ORS 192.440(4)(b).
So without a specific accounting for the actual costs, with specific supporting data, it does seem that your response is not consistent with the requirements of the law. If there was a "brief cost assessment," the basis for that should have been communicated to me, with supporting data, to demonstrate that it was reasonable to reimburse the city's actual costs.
The reason I am querying this is that I have made essentially the same request to ~30 police departments across the nation. Cost estimates from other departments, calculated as staff time and copying fees, are coming through at a fraction of the fee you suggested, if recalculated on a per report basis.
Once the grounds for redactions are decided (and I cannot be charged for the time taken to make that deliberation, see 2c, above), I would think that it would take no more than several minutes to review and redact each report. That certainly seems to be the determination of other departments I am working with.
Sincerely,
Peter Aldhous
From: Hillsboro Police Department
Dear Mr. Aldhous,
In response to your request, Hillsboro completed the review and assessment of estimated costs per your request within ORS 192.324. I am happy to provide additional explanation below of the brief cost assessment and why you were provided the $10 per report cost as an efficiency. I have previously provided copy of the City’s policy and fee structure which comports with Oregon Public Records law.
Our records system containing police incident reports of aggravated assault with a brief description (as I understand your request was explained to Ms. Gochenour) requires staff to review each police report. In order to release the police report, each report must be reviewed and a determination made if the report may be released. This requires staff research each case to determine if it is currently pending prosecution or closed in the court system. Secondarily, an in accordance with ORS 192.324(4)(a)staff then must redact each report (consisting of multiple pages of information) to remove any information which may be conditionally exempt under various Oregon Revised statutes to make the records available. Those statues primarily include but are not limited to ORS Chapters 191.345 and 192.355 as well as potentially others. This process is provided for in ORS 192.324 which replaced ORS 192.440 (2017). With respect to your statement regarding attorney involvement in the review process, the City is not claiming in its current estimate any attorney costs related to this request. Review and redaction is being completed by police department personnel.
192.324 Copies or inspection of public records; public body response; fees; procedure for records requests. (1) A public body that is the custodian of any public record that a person has a right to inspect shall give the person, upon receipt of a written request:
(a) A copy of the public record if the public record is of a nature permitting copying; or
(b) A reasonable opportunity to inspect or copy the public record.
(2) If an individual who is identified in a public body’s procedure described in subsection (7)(a) of this section receives a written request to inspect or receive a copy of a public record, the public body shall within five business days after receiving the request acknowledge receipt of the request or complete the public body’s response to the request. An acknowledgment under this subsection must:
(a) Confirm that the public body is the custodian of the requested record;
(b) Inform the requester that the public body is not the custodian of the requested record; or
(c) Notify the requester that the public body is uncertain whether the public body is the custodian of the requested record.
(3) If the public record is maintained in a machine readable or electronic form, the public body shall provide a copy of the public record in the form requested, if available. If the public record is not available in the form requested, the public body shall make the public record available in the form in which the public body maintains the public record.
(4)(a) The public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the public body for the public body’s actual cost of making public records available, including costs for summarizing, compiling or tailoring the public records, either in organization or media, to meet the request.
(b) The public body may include in a fee established under paragraph (a) of this subsection the cost of time spent by an attorney for the public body in reviewing the public records, redacting material from the public records or segregating the public records into exempt and nonexempt records. The public body may not include in a fee established under paragraph (a) of this subsection the cost of time spent by an attorney for the public body in determining the application of the provisions of ORS 192.311 to 192.478.
(c) The public body may not establish a fee greater than $25 under this section unless the public body first provides the requester with a written notification of the estimated amount of the fee and the requester confirms that the requester wants the public body to proceed with making the public record available.
(d) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) to (c) of this subsection, when the public records are those filed with the Secretary of State under ORS chapter 79 or ORS 80.100 to 80.130, the fees for furnishing copies, summaries or compilations of the public records are the fees established by the Secretary of State by rule under ORS chapter 79 or ORS 80.100 to 80.130.
(5) The custodian of a public record may furnish copies without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if the custodian determines that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.
(6) A requester who believes that there has been an unreasonable denial of a fee waiver or fee reduction may petition the Attorney General or the district attorney in the same manner as a requester who petitions when inspection of a public record is denied under ORS 192.311 to 192.478. The Attorney General, the district attorney and the court have the same authority in instances when a fee waiver or reduction is denied as when inspection of a public record is denied.
(7) A public body shall make available to the public a written procedure for making public records requests that includes:
(a) The name of one or more individuals within the public body to whom public records requests may be sent, with addresses; and
(b) The amounts of and the manner of calculating fees that the public body charges for responding to requests for public records.
(8) This section does not apply to signatures of individuals submitted under ORS chapter 247 for purposes of registering to vote as provided in ORS 247.973. [Formerly 192.440]
The City research fee is $40 per hour. Under the fee per hour assessment, Ms. Gochenour estimated it would take 1 hour to complete the same review of 91 reports (including determination of the report being releasable and making required redactions and copies) at a cost estimate of $3400.00 (91 reports x $40/hr = $3640 (less 6 hours free $240) = $3400.00. Therefore, the City’s $10 per report fee @ 91 reports = $910.00 is the most cost effective way to obtain the records.
If you wish to proceed with your request, please remit payment.
Sincerely,
Cindy
____________________________________________ ____
Cynthia (Cindy) Young Bolek | Support Services Division Manager
City of Hillsboro, Oregon | City of Hillsboro Police Department
phone 503.681.6184 | email cynthia.bolek@hillsboro-oregon.gov<mailto:cynthia.bolek@hillsboro-oregon.gov>
web www.Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/Police<http://www.Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/Police> | Twitter @cityofhillsboro