Philadelphia, PD Citizen Complaints

Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer filed this request with the Philadelphia Police Department of Philadelphia, PA.
Tracking #

CP 2017-1448

Est. Completion None
Status
Partially Completed

Communications

From: Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, I hereby request the following records:

We are Economics Professors in the College of Business at Ferris State University, and are engaged in an empirical research project on police behavior and citizen complaints. This project requires us to request data from your department. If you have questions about this request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with you.

1. What is the total number of citizen complaints (allegations of misconduct) made against your department’s officers annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.

Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).

2. What is the total number of complaints police officers made against their peer officers in department annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.

Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).

3. How many officer-involved-shootings were there per year for the last 10 years in your department? Any documentation or reports that detail the annual number of officer-involved shootings in your department for the past 10 years would be sufficient.

Please include documentation regarding how many of these officer-involved shootings involved disciplinary action. (Please list officer firearm discharge directed at a person separately from a shooting involving an animal and separately from accidental firearm discharges).

Please include the number of officer-involved shootings resulting in discipline.

4. Which of the above data are published publicly? Please provide a link to any and all publicly available reports containing the data above.

Collecting this information is very important to our research, so we would like to emphasize, if you have questions about my request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with 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,

Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

From: Philadelphia Police Department

An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.

From: Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

Hello,

Thank you very much for the update. Thank you for accommodating our request. I look forward to receiving the data.

Respectfully,
Alex Cartwright

From: Philadelphia Police Department

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

From: Philadelphia Police Department

Dear Mr. Cartwright,

The City is continuing to process your attached request, but it requires additional time to do so. The City is currently processing a very large amount of Right to Know Law requests and appeals which has considerably strained our capacity to respond.

Would you please grant the City an extension of two (2) weeks, until 11/1/17, to respond to your attached request?
Best,

Russell T. Crotts, Esquire
Assistant City Solicitor, Right to Know Division
City of Philadelphia Law Department
1515 Arch Street, 17th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 683-5403 (Phone)
(215) 683-5069 (Fax)

From: Philadelphia Police Department

Dear Mr. Cartwright,

Please see attached for the City’s final response to your Right to Know Law request.
Best,

Russell T. Crotts, Esquire
Assistant City Solicitor, Right to Know Division
City of Philadelphia Law Department
1515 Arch Street, 17th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 683-5403 (Phone)
(215) 683-5069 (Fax)

From: Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

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