Police Use of Force Data (Houston Police Department)
| Multi Request | Police Use of Force Data |
| Submitted | May 10, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Samuel Sinyangwe
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Data on all use of force incidents. Preferably in CSV file format, or in .txt or excel file format, including all incidents from January 2015 through the date of this request, including a code list or definitions for any variables with coded responses. Please include in this data:
1) Incident number or other unique identifier for the use of force incident;
2) Date, time, and location of the incident, including street address or block;
3) Race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender and weapon type (if any) possessed by each individual on whom force was used;
4) Each type of force used;
5) Injuries sustained or complaints of injury by each individual on whom force was used;
6) Full name of all officers who used force, and their patrol division or unit. If this is not disclosable, please provide a unique identifier for each officer who used force;
7) The disposition of administrative investigations resulting from the use of force (e.g., sustained or founded; not sustained or unresolved; exonerated; or unfounded);
8) Whether there is body-worn camera or other video footage of the incident; and
9) Arrest charges for each individual on whom force was used.
For any information responsive to this request which is unavailable or non-disclosable, identify the specific information and the reason for the unavailability. Where the information requested is unclear, or the request could be modified to reduce the burden of producing responsive documents, please reply to clarify the request or propose a modification.
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,
Samuel Sinyangwe
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 10, 2020. 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 Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 10, 2020. 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: Houston Police Department
Good morning.
The responsive documents were mailed out to you last week.
Thank you,
Open Records Unit - kc
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 10, 2020. 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 Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 10, 2020. 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: Houston Police Department
Good afternoon.
Your documents were returned to us from the Post Office.
Please verify your mailing address so that we may get your documents to you.
Thank you,
Open Records Unit - kc
-
~WRD000
From: Samuel Sinyangwe
Hi, would it be possible to scan and send the files electronically?
-Sam
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 10, 2020. 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: Houston Police Department
This automatic response is your confirmation that the email you sent was received. Thank you for contacting us.
Our office hours are Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm (excluding holidays).
Please be aware that it will take us approximately 10 business days to respond to you regarding your request. Please submit your request only once by email, fax, US mail or in person.
Did you include your postal mailing address with your request? Please be aware that we do not fax or email responsive documents; you must include your mailing address.
For more information on Public Information requests and the Open Records process, please see the following page of the HPD web site:
http://www.houstontx.gov/police/public_information.htm
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers:
1. How will I be charged? How can I pay for the information?
Answer: If the total amount of your responsive material is less than $5 (five dollars), we will send the information to you by US Mail along with an invoice for the cost. If the total is greater than $5 (five dollars), we will send you an invoice for the material. Once you've paid the invoice, we will send you the responsive documents. If the total will be over $40 (forty dollars), we will send you a cost estimate for your approval before we proceed with the work. If the total will be over $100 (one hundred dollars), we will send you a cost estimate and require a deposit before we proceed with the work. When you are invoiced, please submit payment by check or money order only according to the instructions given in your invoice.
2. Why does it take so long to process my request? Can you expedite my request?
Answer: We have a very small yet extremely dedicated staff working approximately 700 pending requests at any given time. Each Open Records staff member is committed to processing each request as quickly as possible, according to various statutes that govern the release of public information. Requests are assigned in the order in which they are received. Some requests take only a few days to process, while others may take months. In order to be fair to all of our requestors, we are not able to give a higher priority to your request. We do assure you, however, that we will do our best to respond to your request as promptly as possible, while still maintaining accuracy and providing excellent customer service to all of our requestors.
3. Did you receive my request? What is the status of my request?
Answer: If you are receiving this response, then we did receive your request. You may feel free to contact us at the number below if you want to check on the status of your request, but please wait at least 10 business days before calling. It is unlikely that we will be able to process your request in fewer than 10 business days. (Please remember that weekends and holidays do not count as business days.)
Thank you,
Houston Police Department
Office of Planning & Data Governance / Open Records Unit
1200 Travis, 21st floor
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 308-3200 (ask for the Open Records Unit)
hpd.openrecords@houstonpolice.org<mailto:hpd.openrecords@houstonpolice.org>
From: Houston Police Department
Please find attached the documents returned to us from the Post Office.
Thank you,
Open Records Unit - kc
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