Rikers deaths

Your request FOIL-2023-816-00366 has been successfully submitted to the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).
The details of your request are shown below.

Request Title: Rikers deaths

Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:

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

A list/spreadsheet of all deaths occurring on Rikers Island and investigated by the office of the chief medical examiner from Jan 1, 2012 to the present. Please include the following information: date of death; age, race and gender of the person who died, and the cause of death (both the immediate cause and any/all contributing causes or factors). Thank you

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,

Wesley Lowery

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Requester's Contact Information



Name:
Wesley Lowery

Title:
Not provided

Organization:
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Email:
requests@muckrock.com (mailto:requests@muckrock.com)

Phone Number:
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Fax Number:
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Street Address (line 1):
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Street Address (line 2):
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City:
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State:
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You can view the request and take any necessary action at the following webpage: https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)

The NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has acknowledged your FOIL request FOIL-2023-816-00366. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366) You can expect a response on or about Monday, August 21, 2023.
Please visit FOIL-2023-816-00366 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)

The NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has extended the time to respond to your FOIL request FOIL-2023-816-00366 for the following reasons: (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366) You can expect a response on or about Thursday, September 21, 2023.

Additional Information:

We apologize for the delay. Currently the Office of Chief Medical Examiner is still in the process of searching and gathering the responsive material. Please expect a response on or by September 21st, 2023.

Regards,

Xiaoshu Wu
Record Access Officer

Please visit FOIL-2023-816-00366 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)

The NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has provided additional information about your Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) ID number FOIL-2023-816-00366. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)
A note in request FOIL-2023-816-00366 is available for you to view. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)
Please visit https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)

Greetings :

When evaluating your request, we find clarification is needed. In order to process, please provide more details of specific location/area that is being sought, such as the address(es) or the name(s) of building/facility located in Rikers Island.

Thank you.

Xiaoshu Wu
Record Access Officer

*This e-mail is intended only for the addressee. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the e-mail from your system.*

The NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has closed your FOIL request FOIL-2023-816-00366 for the following reasons: (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2023-816-00366)

We’re writing to respond to your Freedom of Information Law(“FOIL”) request submitted to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (“OCME”), in relevant part, seeking:
“A list/spreadsheet of all deaths occurring on Rikers Island and investigated by the office of the chief medical examiner from Jan 1, 2012 to the present. Please include the following information: date of death; age, race and gender of the person who died, and the cause of death (both the immediate cause and any/all contributing causes or factors)” Which was clarified on August 29 th, 2023 to seek “all cases that occurred on Rikers Island -- in any location /building”
OCME is unable to respond to your request since the agency does not maintain the database in the manner that would allow a search to identify the responsive record. In order to locate or identify the responsive sought, the agency needs to engage with unreasonable effort to manually search from the existing retrieval system, which FOIL does not require the agency to do so to find the needles, even if it is known that the needles are there. See Konigsberg v. Coughlin 68 NY2d 245 (1986).  A reasonable description of the record for purpose of search shall include the address, zip code, borough or a conjunction of any of those. Accordingly, your request is denied.

If you wish to appeal this decision, you may do so within thirty (30) days of its receipt. You may appeal to: Geoff Crary, Esq., FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of Chief Medical Examiner, 421 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10016.
Thanks,

Xiaoshu Wu
Record Access Officer