Traffic Stop Data

Joshua Dankoff filed this request with the Massachusetts State Police of Massachusetts.
Submitted Oct. 12, 2021
Status
Awaiting Acknowledgement

Communications

From: Joshua Dankoff

Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Traffic Stop Data

Portal

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

1. Copies of the quarterly Racial Disparity Stop Evaluation Report, Racial Disparity Search Evaluation Report, and the Gender Disparity Stop Evaluation Report that have been filed in the Massachusetts State Police Department’s Traffic Stop Data Collection Database or the MSP Audit Database from January 1, 2015, to the date of this request.

2. Copies of the monthly Compliance Audit Report that have been filed in the Massachusetts State Police Department’s Traffic Stop Data Collection Database or the MSP Audit Database from January 1, 2015, to the date of this request.

3. Copies of quarterly accident reports that have been filed from January 1, 2015, to the date of this request.

4. Any Work Improvement Plans that have been created between January 1, 2015, and the date of this request that were generated due to a disparity in an officer’s traffic stops or searches that is indicative of gender or racial profiling. We are interested in the corrective action that came about in these Work Improvement Plans, so the personal information of individual officers does not need to be included in documents provided.

5. Any Supervisory Observation Reports that have been created between January 1, 2015, and the date of this request that were generated due to a disparity in an officer’s traffic stops or searches that is indicative of gender or racial profiling. We are interested in the corrective action that came about in these Supervisory Observation Reports, so the personal information of individual officers does not need to be included in documents provided.

6. Summary reports filed in the Traffic Stops Data Collection Database encapsulating data collected from January 1, 2015, to the date of this request, including:

-Race Report – Detail
-Race Report – Station
-Gender Report – Detail
-Gender Report – Station
-Total Numbers – Detail
-Total Numbers – Station
-Search, Race, Gender Report – Detail
-Search, Race, Gender Report – Station
-Station Stats
-Station Stats – Troop
-Trooper/Citation Count
-Individual Reports
-Trooper Totals

7. A Detailed Comparison of Study Observations to U.S. Census Data and Police Records using data collected from January 1, 2015 to the date of this request.

8. An Excel spreadsheet of Massachusetts State Police Crash and Motorist Assistance Data by Location, Roadway Type, and Race using data from January 1, 2015 to the date of this request. Please include columns for:

-Town
-Road Class
-Reason for Stop
-Total
-Race of the Driver
-Race Total
-Race %

Should you determine that some portions of the documents requested are exempt from disclosure, please release any reasonably segregable portions that are not exempt. In addition, please note for any such redactions the applicable statutory exemption and explain why it applies to the redacted or withheld information.

Per Attorney Gen. v. Dist. Attorney for Plymouth Dist., 484 Mass. 260, 141 N.E.3d 429 (2020), compiling information from a database is not tantamount to creating a new record that would otherwise be precluded under public records law. Specifically: “Where public records are in electronic form, a public records request that requires a government entity to search its electronic database to extract requested data does not mean that the extracted data constitute the creation of a new record, which would not be required, under the public records law. " Id. at 442 to 443. Thus, we request that your department query its database and provide a response to data requests above.

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 the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. 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.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

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,

Joshua Dankoff

Files

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