Police department misconduct allegations and disciplinary proceedings

Beryl Lipton filed this request with the New Castle Town Police Department of New Castle, NY.

It is a clone of this request.

Tracking #

66220

Due June 25, 2020
Est. Completion Oct. 30, 2021
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Beryl Lipton

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

All materials and records describing and sufficient to show/disclose all allegations of misconduct made and all disciplinary proceedings taken against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency.

As described in the New York Freedom of Information Law, a record is "any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs, rules, regulations or codes." Records kept in a digital or electronic form are also records, would be responsive to this request, and should be provided.

These records are typically required to be retained under the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 (http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/retention_mu-1), including, but not limited to, item no. 365, which includes: "Investigative records and disciplinary proceedings, including but not limited to statement of charge, transcript of hearing, notice of decision, letter of termination or resignation, letter of reinstatement, record of appeal procedure, and correspondence." While materials under that schedule have a set retention of 3 years after the final decision rendered, this request and materials responsive to it include *all* records held in the possession of any office or individual employed or formerly employed by this policing agency, including those kept off-site, in digital form, and in personnel files.

Please note that any failure to provide all potentially-responsive materials and/or the destruction of materials potentially responsive to this request would be a violation of the spirit of the New York Freedom of Information Law, as well as unlawful under the New York FOIL and the terms of the attached litigation hold notice.

Materials responsive to this request include — but are not limited to — all complaints, reports, records of discipline and penalties, aggregate collections of complaint and disciplinary materials (spreadsheets, databases), investigatory materials, relevant related correspondence, photographs, video, other related evidence, proof of discipline or fulfillment of penalties, and all personnel materials (including those used in promotion, contract, and other employment negotiations and considerations) that reference or utilize misconduct allegations or disciplinary materials of any sort.

Materials responsive to this request include all complaints— internal, external, and civilian — and include records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident/complaint: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the investigation, investigatory materials, the disposition of the case, and any subsequent materials related to the execution of any resultant discipline. Responsive materials include all complaints and allegations against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency, regardless of whether that complaint or allegation resulted in any investigation or disciplinary action.

Responsive materials also include all records of use of force by officers, including records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the use of force, subsequent investigatory materials related to the use of force, the disposition of any investigation into the incident, and any subsequent materials related to the use of force.

Please provide materials on a rolling basis, beginning with materials created during the following timeframes:
• January 1, 2010 - June 15, 2020
• January 1, 2000 - January 1, 2010
• January 1, 1990 - January 1, 2000
• January 1, 1980 - January 1, 1990
• January 1, 1970 - January 1, 1980

Pursuant to NYCRR Section 1401.5(c)(1), should any of this request be unclear or lack sufficient description for your office, please provide direction that would enable this requester to request records reasonably described. Please also note that the New York FOIL states: "An agency shall not deny a request on the basis that the request is voluminous or that locating or reviewing the requested records or providing the requested copies is burdensome because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any other basis if the agency may engage an outside professional service to provide copying, programming or other services required to provide the copy...." Please also see FOIL AO 19671, an Advisory Opinion from the Committee on Open Government [https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f19671.htm].

If your office has questions about this request or would like to discuss it for any reason, please contact this requester via the contact email address provided and feel free to follow up by phone: 617-299-1832. This request is being submitted to each policing agency in New York as part of a collaborative project led by MuckRock and involving multiple other educational and journalistic partners and participants. For this reason, over the lifetime of this request, your agency may interface with individuals not listed on this initial communication.

This request is being made in the public interest by a news organization as part of non-profit (not commercial) journalistic work and research on behalf of the public. 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 and as part of the necessary negotiations for successful processing. As far as it is possible, please fulfill elements of this request 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,

Beryl Lipton

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From:

To Whom it May Concern,

In reference to New Castle Police FOIL request #66220.

Attached, please find our original response to your FOIL request that was dated June 18, 2020, as well as a response letter as to its progress.

If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: New Castle Town Police Department

To whom it may concern,

Please refer to my previous responses dated June 22 and July 21 (copy attached) for a possible timeframe for the completion of this request.

Thank you,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: New Castle Town Police Department

To whom it may concern,

In reference to New Castle Police FOIL request #66220:

Attached please find a copy of a letter dated October 19, 2020 (attachment Foil Request #66220 (2)) in regards to the progress of said FOIL request. This letter is also being mailed to your office.

In addition, I have attached The Department’s original response and 1st progress letter (attachment Foil Request #6620).

If I can be of further assistance, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: New Castle Town Police Department

To whom it may concern,

Please refer to the attached letter in regards to FOIL request #66220.
Regards,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

To whom it may concern,

On 2/5/2021 I sent an email containing a FOIL extension letter. I am attaching said letter to this response as well. Please let me know if you have any difficulty opening it.

Sincerely,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

To whom it may concern,

Please refer to the attached letter in regards to your FOIL request. I copy of this letter will be mailed to you.

Sincerely,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: New Castle Town Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello, Lt. Dumser —

I hope this message finds you very well. I appreciate your previous communications regarding this request, and I'm hoping you can provide to me an update on where things currently stand and any available records your team may have collected as part of its response. I'll be glad to address any questions you may have.

Thanks so much for your time and help.

Best wishes,
Beryl

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello, Lt. Dumser —

I hope this message finds you and your team very well.

I'm writing to follow up on my FOIL request. I've appreciated your previous communications regarding this request. However, I remain unclear on when I might expect to receive some of the records your team has been reviewing since I initially submitted my request in June 2020. Would it be possible to please provide materials on a rolling basis? If you could please provide to me an update on where things currently stand and any available records your team may have collected as part of its response, I would be appreciative, and I'll be glad to address any questions you or your team may have.

Thanks so much for your time and help.

Best wishes,
Beryl

From: New Castle Town Police Department

Good afternoon, Beryl. My apologies for the delayed response. Chief Carroll has been in the process of reviewing our officers personnel records over the past several months. The records requested by you and your organization is now with our town’s attorneys for review, prior to release.

I appreciate your patience and understanding with this daunting task, and we anticipate the lawyers being done in approximately 1 month.

Once I get the approval to release them, I will send you an email and we may set up a delivery/pickup method.

Happy Holidays and best regards,

Lt. James M. Dumser, Jr.
Town of New Castle Police Department
Staff Services Division
914-238-5137 work
914-447-2519 cell
JDumser@mynewcastle.org<mailto:JDumser@mynewcastle.org>

[NCPD] [PESWPD]

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