NE Swattings (Omaha Police Department)

Dear Dhruv Mehrotra:
Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Omaha. Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 4/11/2023 and given the reference number P001163-041123 for tracking purposes. Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Nebraska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

In March, the Nebraska Information Analysis Center (NIAC), a division of the Nebraska State Patrol, provided a bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the state and the Nebraska Department of Education regarding a trend of “swatting” calls that had been reported in several other states this year, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, and Vermont. That bulletin advised local agencies to be prepared in the event the calls target Nebraska schools.

- I am looking for a copy of this bulletin
- emails, communications, internal memos or directives about false reports of active shootings or swattings in the last year.

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 4 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dhruv Mehrotra

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City of Omaha

--- Please respond above this line ---


City of Omaha
Jean Stothert, Mayor Todd R. Schmaderer
Chief of Police

Omaha Police Department
“To Serve and Protect”
505 South 15th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2769
(402) 444-5600
(402) 444-5898
police.cityofomaha.org (mailto:police.cityofomaha.org)
Good evening,
I have received your request and will get to work on it.
Thank you

--- Please respond above this line ---


City of Omaha
Jean Stothert, Mayor Todd R. Schmaderer
Chief of Police

Omaha Police Department
“To Serve and Protect”
505 South 15th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2769
(402) 444-5600
(402) 444-5898
police.cityofomaha.org (mailto:police.cityofomaha.org) Dear Dhruv, On behalf of Chief of Police Todd Schmaderer, I am responding to your request for Omaha Police Department records. Your request is made pursuant to the provisions of the Nebraska Public Records Act. In your request dated April 11, 2023 you sought a copy of the Nebraska Information Analysis Center (NIAC) bulletin related to a trend of "swatting" calls. You've requested the bulletin, emails, communications, internal memos or directives about false reports of active shootings or swattings in the last year. This is the response required by NEB. REV. STAT. § 84-712(4). The Nebraska public records statute allows persons the right to examine public records in the possession of public agencies during normal agency business hours, to make memorandum and abstracts from those public records, and to obtain copies of public records in certain circumstances. The statute do not require a public agency to review documents and create abstracts or other lists, to answer questions, or to create documents that do not otherwise exist. See NEB.REV.STAT. § 84-712. Although the Nebraska public records statutes provided for access to public documents, such access is not absolute.  The statutes also provide for exceptions to disclosures by express and special provisions; there are 21 categories of documents that may be kept confidential from the public at the discretion of the agency involved.  See Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-712.05. Your request for the NIAC bulletin is denied pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712 (5) as records developed or received by law enforcement agencies charged with duties of investigation. This document is a confidential NIAC document. I suggest you reach out to Nebraska Information Analysis Center directly with this request. The City uses Google Business for its e-mail system. As a result, e-mails are not maintained on the City servers. In order to allow us to capture e-mails, the City has Google Vault accounts for employees in certain offices and for its management employees. In order to do a search of e-mail, we have to identify individual e-mail accounts and do searches and we cannot do an across the board City search. I am not aware of any internal memos or directives specific to false reports of active shootings or swattings aside from emailed confidential bulletins that are withheld pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712 (5). Section 84-712.03 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes may grant you the right to administrative or judicial review of this response. Please consult the statute for further information. Chief Schmaderer is the public employee responsible for the decision to deny a portion of your request. Thank you for your patience in my response. If you have any questions about the legal basis for this response, please contact me at 402.444.5259. Sincerely, Neal Bonacci

Dear Dhruv Mehrotra,

RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of April 11, 2023, Reference # P001163-041123

The X has reviewed your request and has determined that the records requested are exempt from disclosure under Public Records Act for the following reasons:

[FOIA_EXEMPTIONS]

If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact my office at .

Sincerely,

Neal Bonacci
PIO
Police Department