Public Records Log (Lewiston Police Department)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act, I hereby request the following records:

(1) I request a log of all public records requests submitted to the police department between January 1, 2020  and December 31, 2020. If a log is
not available for those dates, I request a log  for the most recent 12 month period available. If the agency maintains this information in  an Excel spreadsheet,
I request that the record be produced in this format. If the agency maintains a log reflecting whether a request was rejected and/or whether any exemptions were
invoked, I request that the log produced to me include that information.  
(2) Any records that reflect the number of public records responses in which the agency invoked 16 M.R.S.A. § 807.
(3) Any policy documents, instructional manuals, etc. that provide advice as to when the agency is permitted to invoke 16 M.R.S.A. § 807.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by 1 M.R.S.A. § 408(6). The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Christina Koningisor

Mr. St. Pierre,

Thank you for this information. I understand your response to say that you do not track public records requests in any way -- that you have no internal tracking spreadsheets for managing requests submitted to your agency. Is that correct? Even if so, do you have any records at all that would shed light on the agency's use of 16 M.R.S.A. § 807 (this is the statutory provision that permits law enforcement agencies to refuse to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of records). Do you have any policy documents or other forms of advice as to when the agency should respond to a request in this way? Do you have any records that might indicate how often this response is or has been used by your department?

Thank you very much for your help.

Best wishes,

Christina