Personnel and disciplinary record, subject: State Trooper Patrick M. Gallivan (ret.)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

The complete personnel record of the retired State Trooper Patrick M. Gallivan, and all disciplinary records that identify Gallivan as a subject. For specificity and to rule out duplicates, the subject Gallivan was born November 18, 1960. His dates of service cannot be found via Google search; however, upon information and belief, his period of service was between the years of 1981 and 1998.

It is the requesting party's understanding that pursuant to legislation signed by the Governor of the State of New York, the law that prevented disclosure of this material (Civil Rights Law Section 50-a) has been repealed and all such records are now covered by the Freedom of Information Law.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Law as it has been amended by aforementioned legislation, records that may be released include "the complaints, allegations, and charges against an employee; the name of the employee complained of or charged; the transcript of any disciplinary trial or hearing, including any exhibits introduced at such trial or hearing; the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition and discipline imposed including the agency's complete factual findings and its analysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the covered employee."

Under precedent, Freedom of Information Law uses a "balancing test" method of weighing privacy interests favoring redaction/denial against the public interest in favor of disclosure. This matter is of clear public interest for the following reasons: Patrick M. Gallivan is a public figure serving in the State Senate; he was previously elected Sheriff of Erie County.

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,

T. McElwee

To Whom It May Concern:

Please find enclosed a check for $65.00 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.

Thank you.

To whom it may concern:

I would like to check the status on my request for records. Initial request was sent 6/12/2020, and subject was former State Trooper Patrick M. Gallivan. The answering Records Access Officer sent acknowledgment and referred to the request as "RID 39848" (I presume this is a tracking number).

I have not received the requested documents; nor have I received confirmation of receipt of payment from this office either by email or mail. I would appreciate a follow-up and, if documents are still being processed, an estimate of time for delivery.

To recap:

* The request was acknowledged on 6/15/2020.
* Subsequently, on 8/28/2020, I was quoted a $0.25 / page duplication cost for 260 pages of records.
* On 8/30/2020, I ordered a check cut for the full $65 cost of duplication, sent to the NY State Police by US Postal Service.

If any part of this has gone pear-shaped, please let me know ASAP.

My thanks for your time and attention,
T. McElwee