Protest aerial surveillance video footage
| Submitted | June 8, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | Sept. 9, 2022 |
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Communications
From: Brian Waters
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I am requesting raw photographs, video footage, and audio tapes recorded during several helicopter missions of the Special Enforcement Unit during 2020. Specifically, I am requesting records from the following missions:
6/1/2020, 1100 hours in Hampton Beach State Park
6/1/2020, 1800 hours in Dover
6/2/2020, 1100 hours in Manchester
6/3/2020, 1100 hours in Keene
6/6/2020, 1500 hours in Nashua
6/6/2020, 1300 hours in Concord
6/7/2020, 1000 hours in Portsmouth
6/7/2020, 1730 hours in Salem
6/27/2020, 1200 hours in Concord
By "audio tapes" I am referring to any recorded audio between members of the flight crew, as well as recorded radio communications. By "photographs and video footage" I am referring to any photos or video recorded during the mission.
For reference, brief logs of these missions were provided to me in a previous request, in a file titled 2020_Helicopter_Mission_Flights_-_redacted.pdf.
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,
Brian Waters
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good afternoon Brian,
This email acknowledges your 91-A request for photographs, video footage, and audio tapes recorded during the following helicopter missions of the Special Enforcement Unit during 2020:
6/1/2020, 1100 hours in Hampton Beach State Park
6/1/2020, 1800 hours in Dover
6/2/2020, 1100 hours in Manchester
6/3/2020, 1100 hours in Keene
6/6/2020, 1500 hours in Nashua
6/6/2020, 1300 hours in Concord
6/7/2020, 1000 hours in Portsmouth
6/7/2020, 1730 hours in Salem
6/27/2020, 1200 hours in Concord
By "audio tapes" you are referring to any recorded audio between members of the flight crew, as well as recorded radio communications. By "photographs and video footage" you are referring to any photos or video recorded during the mission.
In light of the scope of your request, the workloads, and availability of personnel participating in the processing of your request, and the impact of COVID-19, I estimate that we will need until August 16 to determine the extent of available records in accordance with RSA 91-A and applicable case law. Of course, if we are able to provide records to you prior to that time, we will do so.
Regards,
Karen
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~WRD000
From: Brian Waters
Thank you Karen.
BW
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good afternoon Brian,
In gathering the records you requested, it was discovered that the Portsmouth and Salem video items you requested don't actually have any video footage of protests. As I understand it, the helicopter was on stand-by and never called. I'm told the video shows just the bottom of the helicopter. Do you still want the video for those items?
Karen
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~WRD059
From: Brian Waters
Hello Karen,
If it doesn't significantly increase the review time and you can just easily include those, then yes, I'll still take them for completeness. If it will add a lot of work, then let me know and maybe we can exclude them.
Thanks,
Brian Waters
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good afternoon Brian,
The records have been gathered. I will need to review them to determine the extent to which they are subject to public disclosure under RSA 91-A and other applicable law. I am told there are many hours of video to review, so this will take some significant time. I will plan on providing these to you on a rolling basis, i.e., each video as it is reviewed and ready for disclosure. In light of the scope of the request and the availability of personnel participating in the processing of your request, I expect I will need until November 30 to provide you with records. Of course, if I'm able to provide you with something prior that time, I certain will do so.
Regards,
Karen
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~WRD000
From: Brian Waters
Thanks very much Karen.
- Brian
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. You previously indicated that it would be completed on Nov. 30, 2021. I wanted to let you know that I am still interested in the following documents, and to see if that date was still accurate.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Nov. 30, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Nov. 30, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good morning,
In light of the scope of the request and the availability of personnel participating in the processing of your request, I expect I will need until September 9, 2022 to provide you with records. Of course, if I'm able to provide you with something prior that time, I certain will do so.
Regards,
Karen
-
~WRD000
From: Brian Waters
Hello Karen, thanks for the update.
Last I heard from you, on August 6, you said that you expected to be able to provide footage on a rolling basis, and estimated November 30, 2021 as a date I could expect to see videos by. I recently got a short email from you extending the date to September of 2022. This is a long extension - the better part of a year - and much longer than even the time that's gone by since I submitted my original request, which was in June. Given that you've indicated that you've already located the records and reviewed some of them, can you give me an idea of what the hangup is? I am happy to work with you an might be willing to limit the scope of my request in order to get the records in a reasonable amount of time. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Brian Waters
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good afternoon Brian,
Thanks for reaching out. We have many other 91-A requests, and several of them are of a significant magnitude that predate yours. The videos have been gathered, but I need to review them to determine to whether they are subject to public disclosure in their entirety. You are free to narrow your request, and I can let you know how that might change the timeframe.
Hope you have a happy new year.
Best,
Karen
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~WRD000
From: Brian Waters
Karen,
Thanks for your previous email regarding my Right to Know request to view aerial video footage from the Special Enforcement Unit. You wrote that you had gathered the footage, and would need until September to review it, but that if I narrowed my request, you might be able to to provide it sooner. Would you be able to provide a listing of the records that you located, so that I might be able to narrow my request to a certain subset?
Thank you,
Brian Waters
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Sept. 9, 2022. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following New Hampshire Right to Know Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 8, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Sept. 9, 2022. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good morning Mr. Waters,
I just wanted to confirm with you that you are still interested in receiving the records you requested. If you could confirm that, then I will give you an updated timeframe.
Best,
Karen
-
~WRD012
From: New Hampshire State Police
Good afternoon Mr. Waters,
I don't see that I have received a response from you regarding my October 6 email below. If I don't hear from you in two weeks, I will understand that you are no longer interested in receiving the records you requested.
Best,
Karen
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