Rachel Gold - New Castle PD DE Guns

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Delaware Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Dear public records custodian,

This is a public records request for records related to the disposition of departmental weapons. On behalf of CBS News, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and The Trace, we hereby request the following records:

A data file in machine-readable format such as excel or csv, containing one row for every firearm sold, traded, exchanged, or bartered to any law enforcement officers, private individuals, federal firearms licensees (FFLs), or other businesses by the New Castle County Police Department County sheriff's department.

We request the data contain the following fields:
- Date of the transaction
- Firearm serial number
- Name of the person or business who received the departmental weapon
- Weapon manufacturer
- Weapon model
- Weapon type (pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc.)
- Weapon caliber
- Sale price or trade credit amount

Examples of such transactions are:
- An officer is given their duty weapon when they retire or leave the department, or an officer is allowed to purchase their duty weapon from the department.
- The department auctions used departmental weapons to members of the public to raise funds for purchases of new weapons.
- The department sells or trades used departmental weapons to an FFL or other business to raise funds for the purchases of new weapons or offset the cost of the purchase of new weapons.
- The department exchanges use departmental weapons to a firearms manufacturer or wholesaler as part of an exchange program in exchange for new weapons.

We request all such records in the department's possession created since January 1, 2000.

This request is for departmental weapons used by department employees, not firearms recovered by the department or those that were used in crimes. These records are not associated with any crime under investigation by the department, and therefore their release would not interfere with any ongoing investigation.

This request is part of a data gathering initiative by CBS News and The Trace. Identical requests are being sent to over 100 police departments across the United States.

We understand that every department has different information systems, public records policies, records retention schedules, manpower limitations, and other considerations that may impact the your agency's ability to respond to certain parts of this request.

We understand that most agencies will have migrated databases at least once between January 1, 2006 and the date this request is fulfilled. If that is the case with your agency please provide records from whatever databases you are readily able to retrieve data from.

As most state public records laws require, if the records are kept in electronic format, we request the records be provided to us in their original electronic format. If not, we will accept hard copies of records.

If your agency assesses any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform us if the cost exceeds $100. However, if your state records law permits, we hereby request a waiver of all fees on the grounds that this request is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public's understanding of government operations.

This request is submitted on behalf of CBS News and The Trace — news media organizations investigating firearms-related topics for newsgathering purposes. This information is not being sought for commercial purposes.

If access to the requested records will take longer than the timeline allowed under Delaware Freedom of Information Act, please contact us with information about when we may expect the request to be fulfilled. We understand this is a large request and are happy to work with you to agree to extensions as needed, and will accept records in installments over a period of time.

If you deny any part of this request, we ask that you cite each specific statutory exemption you feel justifies your refusal to release the requested information and notify us of the appeal procedures available to us under Delaware Freedom of Information Act.

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 15 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Rudenberg, a citizen of Delaware, in coordination with Rachel Gold.