NH police budget and employment data (Cheshire County) (Keene Police Department)
| Multi Request | NH police budget and employment data (Cheshire County) |
| Submitted | April 27, 2021 |
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Communications
From: Granite State News Collaborative
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the following records related to this municipality's police department hiring, employment, and funding for the budget years 2000 through 2020:
BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities for the years 2000 through 2020.
If possible, please provide the itemized budget allocated for public safety and police department activities for each year, as well as records sufficient to show any additional funding received through other means, including but not limited to:
• funds for capital expenditures
• grants
• donations
HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
• The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality’s public safety or law enforcement department
If any of the requested information is available in aggregate form, provision of this aggregate information by year would likely satisfy this request. If there are any known caveats involved with the data and information your office is able to provide, I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me.
*Please note* that if any of the requested information is held by another office or agency, direction to the appropriate office would be greatly appreciated.
This request is being made on behalf of the statewide nonprofit Granite State News Collaborative. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. It is being made as part of a journalistic data collection effort to benefit news organizations and the public good throughout the State of New Hampshire.
If your office anticipates that fees associated with the processing of this request, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Please call 617-500-7123 with any questions about this request. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within five business days, as required by law.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I really appreciate your time and help.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
From: Keene Police Department
April 28, 2021
Beryl Lipton
MuckRock News
Dept. MR 111687
411 A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA. 02144 - 2516
RE: City of Keene, NH - Right-to-Know request - Police Department Budget and Personnel Demographics
Dear Ms. Lipton:
In accordance with NH R.S.A. Ch. 91-A:4, IV, this is acknowledgement of receipt of your request made under NH R.S.A. Ch. 91-A for access to governmental records of the City of Keene, NH, which was received by this office on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. It is the policy of the City of Keene to coordinate the processing of all requests made under NH R.S.A. Ch. 91-A through the Office of the City Clerk.
The nature of your right-to-know request is comprehensive and will require assistance from other Departments. It is our intent to commence collecting the information requested at the earliest possible opportunity; however, it may take 30-days or longer to determine whether or not a record(s) exists; and if so, determine whether the record(s) is disclosable; and, if disclosable, determine how much time it will take to make the requested record(s) ready for review or copying. You will be informed in writing once the status of your request has changed and of any copying costs prior to the commencement of the work.
Please note that given the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration issued by the Governor of the State of New Hampshire pursuant to Executive Order 2020-04, as extended, response to your Right-to-Know Request may be delayed until the Emergency Declaration is rescinded.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Patricia A. Little, CMC
City Clerk
Office of the City Clerk
3 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431
(603) 352-0133 ext. 002
plittle@ci.keene.nh.us
________________________________
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments
to this message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and
may contain confidential, privileged or exempt information in accordance with
NH RSA 91-A and other applicable laws or regulations. If you are not the
intended recipient, please reply to the City of Keene sender or notify the
City of Keene immediately at (603) 357-9802 and delete or destroy all copies
of this message and any attachments. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, or
distribution of this message and any attachments is strictly prohibited. Thank
you for your assistance.
From: Keene Police Department
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 27, 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: Keene Police Department
May 14, 2021
Dear Ms. Lipton,
This is a written response to update you on the status of your request submitted to the City of Keene NH on April 27, 2021. The City of Keene has determined that the portion of your request for BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities dated between 2013 and 2021 is immediately available on the City’s website at https://ci.keene.nh.us/finance-purchasing/financial-documents
The City of Keene has further determined that there may be existing governmental records responsive to your request for the remaining portion of your request. The remaining BUDGET, HIRING and EMPLOYMENT records determined to be responsive to your request are being gathered by the appropriate department and forwarded to the City Attorney’s office for review prior to authorization for public access. It may take 30-days or longer from the date we received your request to determine whether or not a record(s) exists; and if so, determine whether the record(s) is disclosable; and, if disclosable, and make the requested record(s) available for access.
I will send you another written statement when the status of your request changes. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please contact me.
Sincerely,
[cid:image001.jpg@01D748C7.C2275B90]
William S. Dow, CRM
Records Manager/Deputy City Clerk
Office of the City Clerk
3 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431
wdow@ci.keene.nh.us
(603) 352-0133 ext. 2
(603) 283-5653 (Fax)
-
image001
From: Beryl Lipton
Hello Mr. Dow —
Thank you for this update! I appreciate it and will look forward to hearing from your office again.
Best,
Beryl
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 27, 2021. You previously indicated that it would be completed on June 14, 2021. I wanted to let you know that I am still interested in the following documents, and to see if that date was still accurate.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 27, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on June 14, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Keene Police Department
June 18, 2021
Beryl Lipton
MuckRock News
Dept. MR 111687
411 A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA. 02144 – 2516
RE: City of Keene, NH - Right-to-Know request – Police Department Budget and Personnel Demographics
Dear Ms. Lipton:
This is a written statement to update you on the status of your request made under NH R.S.A. Ch. 91-A for access to governmental records of the City of Keene, NH, which was received by this office on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. The City of Keene has determined that there are existing records responsive to request. Furthermore, The City of Keene has previously advised you in writing on May 14, 2021 that a portion of your of the records responsive to your request are immediately available for access and may be found on the City’s website.
This response is to inform you that the remaining portion of the governmental records relative to Keene Police Department budgets & funding, as well as, hiring & employment data. The City of Keene has determined that there no existing records responsive to your request relative to grants. Furthermore, The City of Keene has determined that there are existing governmental records responsive to your and have been gathered, reviewed and authorized for access, which include the following:
For Budget and Funding Data:
· Funds for capital expenditures from 2015 to this year, Information on capital expenditures may be found on the City’s website at:
https://ci.keene.nh.us/finance-purchasing/financial-documents
· Information on capital expenditures prior to 2015, is available for inspection at no charge and may be viewed at Keene City Hall by appointment during regular business hours by contacting the City’s Finance Office at (603) 352-1013.
• Donations: Keene Finance Department: List of Keene Police Department donations (14 pages)
• Hiring and Employment Data: (11 pages)
Please be advised that in accordance with City policy copies of responsive records may be provided electronically in Adobe pdf format copied onto a DVD and mailed to you. The City of Keene is authorized to charge fees for providing copies of records responsive to a request made under NH RSA Ch. 91-A and mailing. The established fee for providing copies is fifty ($.50) cents for the first page and twenty-five ($.25) cents for each additional page for a total of $6.50 for providing copies of responsive records for your request. There is an additional $1.00 fee for providing a DVD for the electronic copies. The fee for mailing a DVD with copies provided to you is $1.25.
Please remit total payment of $8.75, made payable to the City of Keene NH, and send total payment to my attention in the Office of the City Clerk. Upon receipt of your total payment, I will mail the DVD with electronic copies of the responsive records to your at the mailing address provided in your request. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, please contact me.
Sincerely,
[wdow]
William S. Dow, CRM
Records Manager/Deputy City Clerk
Office of the City Clerk
3 Washington St.
Keene NH 03431
(603) 352-0133 ext. 002
wdow@ci.keene.nh.us<mailto:wdow@ci.keene.nh.us>
From: Granite State News Collaborative
Hi Mr. Dow,
Thanks for your help in responding to this request.
Would it be possible to receive the two documents you mention above (Donations: Keene Finance Department: List of Keene Police Department donations and Hiring and Employment Data) emailed as attachments rather than mailed on a DVD? It seems simpler to send those PDFs via email rather than requiring you to go through the trouble of mailing a disc containing those files. Please let me know if this is possible.
Thanks,
Granite State News Collaborative
From: Keene Police Department
Dear Ms. Lipton,
Thank you for your recent message regarding access to the responsive records for your right to know request submitted to the City of Keene NH. According to my records, this matter is still pending per my letter sent to you dated June 18, 2021.
A NH municipality is not required under NH RSA 91-A to email responsive records to a request made under RSA 91-A. It is also against the policy of the City of Keene to email governmental records responsive to a request made under RSA 91-A. Lastly, the City of Keene is authorized to charge fees for providing copies of governmental records responsive to a request made under RSA Ch. 91-A, as well as postage to mail copies provided. The fees established by the Keene City Council for providing copies is fifty ($.50) cents for the first page and twenty-five ($.25) cents for each additional page for a total copy fee of $6.50 for your request.
The City of Keene also will offer to copy the responsive records onto a brand new (still in package) thumb drive, if you provide one with your payment. Please remit total payment of $6.50, made payable to the City of Keene NH, for providing copies of the responsive records and $1.25 for postage to mail. Upon receipt of your total payment $7.25 and new thumb drive, I will mail the copies of the responsive records for your request.
Sincerely,
William S. Dow, CRM
Records Manager/Deputy City Clerk
Office of the City Clerk
3 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431
wdow@ci.keene.nh.us
(603) 352-0133 ext. 2
(603) 283-5653 (Fax)
From: Keene Police Department
Ms. Lipton, Just to follow up on my response sent yesterday. I looked through my correspondence to you regarding this matter and noticed that I did not offer another option for you to access the responsive records for your request is to inspect at no charge in the Office of the City Clerk at 3 Washington St. Keene NH during regular business hours (M-F 8:00 am – 4:30 pm). Please contact me directly to schedule a mutually convenient date and time for appointment to inspect the responsive records.
Sincerely,
William S. Dow, CRM
Records Manager/Deputy City Clerk
Office of the City Clerk
3 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431
wdow@ci.keene.nh.us
(603) 352-0133 ext. 2
(603) 283-5653 (Fax)
From: Granite State News Collaborative
Hi Mr. Dow,
This is Cassidy Jensen from the Concord Monitor - we spoke briefly on the phone today. I'm just writing to confirm that I'll come in tomorrow morning to take a look at these records. The key piece of information I'm looking for is the number of full-time officers employed in 2000, 2010 and 2020.
Thanks,
Cassidy
From: Granite State News Collaborative
Hi Mr. Dow,
I'm following up on this request to emphasize a particular part of the original request. We are requesting records to show the number of employed law enforcement officers in the department. The records you provided on Friday go back to 2009, but we requested records for the years 2000 to 2020. I'm amending that request now to just the relevant staffing records to show the total number of officers in the department in the year 2000.
Below is the relevant section of the original request:
HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
• The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality’s public safety or law enforcement department
Additionally, for the part of the request relevant to budget and spending data, who in the Finance Department should I direct that request to? I was able to track down some information in the Keene library and online but I'm still looking for spending/budgets for the police department in 2000.
Thank you so much for your help with this request and I hope elections go smoothly this week! As always, feel free to call me at 603-369-3322 with any questions.
Thanks,
Cassidy
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 27, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on June 14, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 27, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on June 14, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Keene Police Department
Dear Ms. Jensen, This is a written response regarding your request for access to governmental records of the City of Keene NH. The City of Keene previously made available to you a partial release of existing governmental record determined to be responsive to Ms. Beryl Lipton's request dated April 27, 2021. The remaining governmental records responsive to your request were sent to you on March 16, 2022. I have uploaded another copy of the records as an attachment to this message. The City of Keene considers this matter concluded.
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