NH police budget and employment data

I'm writing to acknowledge your request dated 10/5/21 for specific NH State Police and employment demographics for its troopers. I'm able to tell you that as of today, NHSP employs 319 full-time, sworn police officers. If you proceed to the following link http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/LBA/Budget/OperatingBudget.aspx, you can access the State of New Hampshire operating budgets in the relevant time period and locate the information you're seeking by searching keyword phrase "State Police." As to the remaining information you're seeking, we do not compile that information for our own use, and RSA 91-A:4, VII provides, “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a public body or agency to compile, cross-reference, or assemble information into a form in which it is not already kept or reported by that body or agency.” Due to the circumstances of the request, there is no copying fee. As such, your request is denied, and this request is considered to be closed.

Jon,

I'm writing to acknowledge your request below, which, as I see it, looks familiar to me. I actually made the response in the MuckRock platform that you attributed to Paul Raymond. I will take this opportunity to double-check/reconsider our response to the initial request. I anticipate that I'll be able to comment about any available records by the end of next week.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

New Hampshire State Police
RTK Office
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
December 2, 2021
This is a follow up to a previous request:
Hello Attorney Hilts,
I am resending the original request sent to the Department of Safety for your reconsideration.
We are not asking you to generate records on our behalf, although you could choose to do so given the heightened interest in police transparency in New Hampshire.
We were unable to locate the number of New Hampshire State Troopers or historical budget data at the link that was initially sent. We are confident there are records that are responsive to this request that will help the public gain a better understanding of the state's most professional law enforcement agency. Additionally, these records are a starting point for more reporting on our part.
Here is the original request:
Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the following records related to this agency's police department hiring, employment, and funding for the budget years 2000 through 2020:
BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities for the years 2000 through 2020.
If possible, please provide the itemized budget allocated for public safety and police department activities for each year, as well as records sufficient to show any additional funding received through other means, including but not limited to:
* funds for capital expenditures
* grants
* donations
HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
* The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
* Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
* Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality's public safety or law enforcement department
If any of the requested information is available in aggregate form, provision of this aggregate information by year would likely satisfy this request. If there are any known caveats involved with the data and information your office is able to provide, I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me.
*Please note* that this request is applicable to all troops and divisions of this agency. If any of the requested information is held by another office or agency, direction to the appropriate office would be greatly appreciated.
This request is being made on behalf of the statewide nonprofit Granite State News Collaborative. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. It is being made as part of a journalistic data collection effort to benefit news organizations and the public good throughout the State of New Hampshire.
If your office anticipates that fees associated with the processing of this request, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Please call me at 603.369.3303 if you have questions about this request.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Van Fleet, Concord Monitor, on behalf of the Granite State News Collaborative
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PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
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On Oct. 8, 2021:
Subject:
I'm writing to acknowledge your request dated 10/5/21 for specific NH State Police and employment demographics for its troopers. I'm able to tell you that as of today, NHSP employs 319 full-time, sworn police officers. If you proceed to the following link http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/LBA/Budget/OperatingBudget.aspx<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.gencourt.state.nh.us/LBA/Budget/OperatingBudget.aspx__;!!Oai6dtTQULp8Sw!G53BGFb9ZjMrhMDvrEMrXrG3XHWvItp2xcG7G68ZGQg6gppUz9_ch0Tj9QtaPMuDD9UI$>, you can access the State of New Hampshire operating budgets in the relevant time period and locate the information you're seeking by searching keyword phrase "State Police." As to the remaining information you're seeking, we do not compile that information for our own use, and RSA 91-A:4, VII provides, "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a public body or agency to compile, cross-reference, or assemble information into a form in which it is not already kept or reported by that body or agency." Due to the circumstances of the request, there is no copying fee. As such, your request is denied, and this request is considered to be closed.
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On Oct. 5, 2021:
Subject: New Hampshire Right to Know Law Request: NH police budget and employment data
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the following records related to this agency's police department hiring, employment, and funding for the budget years 2000 through 2020:
BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities for the years 2000 through 2020.
If possible, please provide the itemized budget allocated for public safety and police department activities for each year, as well as records sufficient to show any additional funding received through other means, including but not limited to:
* funds for capital expenditures
* grants
* donations
HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
* The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
* Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
* Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality's public safety or law enforcement department
If any of the requested information is available in aggregate form, provision of this aggregate information by year would likely satisfy this request. If there are any known caveats involved with the data and information your office is able to provide, I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me.
*Please note* that this request is applicable to all troops and divisions of this agency. If any of the requested information is held by another office or agency, direction to the appropriate office would be greatly appreciated.
This request is being made on behalf of the statewide nonprofit Granite State News Collaborative. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. It is being made as part of a journalistic data collection effort to benefit news organizations and the public good throughout the State of New Hampshire.
If your office anticipates that fees associated with the processing of this request, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Please call 617-500-7123 with any questions about this request. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within five business days, as required by law.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I really appreciate your time and help.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton, Granite State News Collaborative
View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/
Filed via MuckRock.com<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/MuckRock.com__;!!Oai6dtTQULp8Sw!G53BGFb9ZjMrhMDvrEMrXrG3XHWvItp2xcG7G68ZGQg6gppUz9_ch0Tj9QtaPO8Nf1m1$>
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 119826
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

Jon,

Just following up on your comment that the link that I had previously provided to you didn't work. Just now, I went to the link I provided: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/LBA/Budget/OperatingBudget.aspx. When I arrived, I came to a page that listed Budget and Revenue Documents. Under the Operating Budgets column, I see links to biennial budgets. I selected the 2000-2001 link. Once the budget bill appeared, a keyword search for "state police" didn't work for some reason. However, when I tried "police", the first hit was the budget for the Communications Section of the Division of State Police in the Department of Safety. The remainder of the State Police budget is contained in the following 7 pages, culminating in a breakdown for each of the two-year budget by Federal funds, general funds, and other funds. Same for the 2002-2003 link. For some of the links from 2004-2005 to 2010-2011, selecting the link will take you to a page where you have to select the Department of Safety among lists of agencies before you're brought to the budget bill itself. After poking around in several budgets, you'll get a feel for how DOS's budget info is displayed. However, searching by "police" does seem to bring you there if you cycle through the hits and pay attention to what division of the department is being treated. This should address that portion of your request. Sorry that my previous instruction wasn't getting you there. Let me know if you continue to have problems with that part.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

Jon,

Just wanted to touch base on this request. I'm exploring two potential avenues for getting at the demographic information you requested, but it seems that DOS has not previously compiled this information. Once I learn what source records exist, I'll explore whether the collation that would be required is something that we'd be willing to do. I'm hopeful that I can get to that point by the end of next week.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

Hi Cassidy,

Thanks for the prompt. As I described earlier, I was pursuing two different tacks to try to get the requested information. One of those tacks got me the attached info. ‘MP’ means Marine Patrol. I’d like Jon to know that this information is being provided outside of 91-A, since we voluntarily hand-counted various records to produce these figures, even though 91-A didn’t require that we do that. The other tack that I’m still pursuing may have gender data involved, but I’m not sure yet if that will pan out. Could you try back in a week or so?

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

Cassidy,

I’m sorry for not getting back to you earlier. It sounds like we don’t retain the necessary data to do the retrospective snapshots you wanted, but it sounds like we could provide age, sex, gender on current sworn SP personnel. Would you be interested in that?

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

Cassidy,

I’ve attached a spreadsheet with the available information, as of 4/14/22. This request is considered to be closed.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.