Passenger inspection notes photos reports 2016-05-24

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to RCW Ch. 42.56 (Public Records Act), I hereby request the following records:

One or more people who appeared to be transit agency staff but did not identify themselves investigated most or all riders (including me) on the northbound Sounder passenger train from Lakewood to Seattle, including the third car from front, at approximately 8:55 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. I do not know of any reason for the man who investigated me to have suspected me of fare evasion. Upon my invitation to do so, he did not articulate any reason to suspect me of having violated any law or transit agency rule. If this unidentified man was, in fact, a public employee, I wish to review the accuracy of any records related to his unwarranted investigations of me and other presumed-innocent transit riders that he created during and as a result of those investigations.

I have observed that people appearing to be Sound Transit staff regularly photograph and make written notes about some passengers during their investigations. I request:
- The content of those notebooks used by staff who worked the aforementioned train on the aforementioned date
- The content of those cameras used by staff who worked the aforementioned train on the aforementioned date
- Images captured by the aforementioned staff on the aforementioned date that are no longer on their cameras
- All reports filed by the aforementioned staff on that date and/or in regard to their work duties on that date
- Staff duty roster applicable to the aforementioned train on the aforementioned date

Please do what you can to prevent staff from destroying these public records prior to your making them available to the public.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Phil Mocek

I appeal.

You failed to provide all records I requested without notifying me that they do not exist or that they are exempt from disclosure. You stated that some records I requested were destroyed by your staff after I requested them. You redacted information within the records you did provide without citing any exemption to your duty to produce them under the Public Records Act.

You provided only an eight-page PDF that appears to contain only the following three records:

- ticket list dated 2016-06-03
- notice of infraction 290412
- officer report for citation 290412

You did not provide copies of staff notebooks.

You wrote that "there are no photographs on cameras used by staff" and that "all photos are deleted at the end of each shift. I requested not only digital images on cameras used by staff, but also copies of those images that are not on those cameras. I find it hard to believe that your staff photograph passengers during their shifts only to delete those images hours or minutes later. Regardless, I filed my request within minutes of the creation of any such records and I specifically requested that you prevent staff from destroying these public records prior to making them available to the public.

Cordially,
Phil Mocek

Hello Ms. Tennison,

Thank you very much for your help so far. I'm wondering if you could provide us with the most appropriate appeal information for requests made to this agency. It would be appreciated very much.

Best wishes,
Beryl, MuckRock

In the meantime and for your records, please find copied below an appeal associated with this particular request.

Thanks so much for all you do,
Beryl, MuckRock
______

I appeal.

You failed to provide all records I requested without notifying me that they do not exist or that they are exempt from disclosure. You stated that some records I requested were destroyed by your staff after I requested them. You redacted information within the records you did provide without citing any exemption to your duty to produce them under the Public Records Act.

You provided only an eight-page PDF that appears to contain only the following three records:

- ticket list dated 2016-06-03
- notice of infraction 290412
- officer report for citation 290412

You did not provide copies of staff notebooks.

You wrote that "there are no photographs on cameras used by staff" and that "all photos are deleted at the end of each shift. I requested not only digital images on cameras used by staff, but also copies of those images that are not on those cameras. I find it hard to believe that your staff photograph passengers during their shifts only to delete those images hours or minutes later. Regardless, I filed my request within minutes of the creation of any such records and I specifically requested that you prevent staff from destroying these public records prior to making them available to the public.

Cordially,
Phil Mocek