Robert Vance Pratt NY State Police Files

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PHELAN_NYSP_20230309231516719

INFORMATION SUBMITTED:

Records Requested From
New York State Police

Short Title
Robert Vance Pratt NY State Police Files

Description
To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:A copy of all New York State Police files and related records on Robert Vance Pratt, often known as "Bob Pratt" (Born: 08/12/1926; Deceased: 11/20/2005). Evidence of Ryder's passing can be accessed within the attached obituaries from The Palm Beach Post and Legacy.com. Also accessible via these links:- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/palmbeachpost/name/robert-pratt-obituary?id=26394629- https://web.archive.org/web/20051201020438/https://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2005/11/25/m8b_obit_pratt_1125.htmlBefore his retirement, Mr. Pratt was a career newspaperman and author, holding various reporting and editing positions on the Alexandria (Va.) Gazette, the Charlottesville (Va.) Daily Progress, the Evansville (Ind.) Courier, the Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening News, the Miami (Fla.) News, the Philadelphia (Pa.) Inquirer, the Louisville (Ky.) Times and Courier-Journal, and for a time with the National Enquirer. It is believed that some of Mr. Pratt's reporting interests, particularly in New York's Hudson Valley, may have made him a person of interest to the state police.If some records may be released immediately while others require a review, I respectfully request a two-tiered release. I am making this request as a member of the news media, and request classification as such, including a fee waiver. I have previously written for Gizmodo, Slate, The New Republic, the New York Review of Books, Inverse.com, Scienceline.org, Gawker, Chemical Engineering magazine, and elsewhere. The documents I seek concern Mr. Pratt's reporting on local government operations and activities. Their disclosure is likely to contribute to greater public understanding of historic municipal and state initiatives and taxpayer-funded expenditures.In the case of a staggered release, I humbly request that records on Bob Pratt from the years 1979 to 1998 be the focused of the first and most immediate release.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,Matthew PhelanAttachments:https://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/Matthew_Phelan/119316/Palm_Beach_Archives_Screenshot.pnghttps://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/Matthew_Phelan/119316/Palm_Beach_Post_Obit_-_Robert_Pratt_newspaperman_author_of_UFO_books_articles_dies_at_79.pdfhttps://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/Matthew_Phelan/119316/Legacy.com_-_Robert_Pratt_Obituary_2005.pdfUpload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

Uploaded Files
Legacy.com_-_Robert_Pratt_Obituary_2005.pdf
Palm_Beach_Post_Obit_-_Robert_Pratt_newspaperman_author_of_UFO_books_articles_dies_at_79.pdf
Palm_Beach_Archives_Screenshot.png

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New York State Police
1220 Washington Avenue
Bldg 22
Albany, NY 12226-2252

March 10, 2023

Matthew Phelan
MuckRock News, DEPT MR142517
263 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Re: FOIL Number NYSP-23-03-1041
Dear Matthew Phelan:
This will acknowledge receipt of your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law received by New York State Police on March 09, 2023. The request was for "Robert Vance Pratt NY State Police Files".
Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate program area(s) to identify documents that are responsive to your request and which may be made available pursuant to all applicable provisions of the Freedom of Information Law.
A determination as to whether your request is granted or denied will be reached by or before May 11, 2023.
Please note that, pursuant to Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, a charge may be applied to your request, including the actual cost of the medium used to respond to your Freedom of Information Law request and/or other related costs. When responsive records have been identified, you will be informed of any cost and how payment should be made.
PLEASE NOTE: **
As we have acknowledged your request, please refrain from submitting duplicate requests for the same records through Open FOIL. Submitting a duplicate request takes time away from processing the hundreds of requests received each month. If you have additional information to add to your request, or you would like to know the status of your request, please contact the FOIL Unit via email or call us at (518) 464-7100, option #2.

Sincerely,
[cid:image001.jpg@01D9533D.41262670]
Staff Inspector William H. Gorman
Records Access Officer
Central Records Bureau

________________________________

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Please see the attached correspondence pertaining to your request for copies of records from the New York State Police.