Arrest of man filming and criticizing police officer
| Tracking # |
23-246 |
| Submitted | Feb. 23, 2023 |
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Communications
From: Adam Steinbaugh
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Any incident report, police report, or narrative relating to the arrest of Brandon Hong on the evening of February 17, 2023. The arrest was conducted by an officer with the number "77" displayed on his uniform. Hong's arrest occurred during the detention of an unknown third party.
2. Any body-worn camera footage and/or audio of any officer involved with or present during the arrest (of either Hong or the third party), including any recording made in the half hour before the arrest.
3. Any vehicle-based video footage or audio footage from a vehicle present at the scene of the arrest (of either Hong or the third party). This request is limited to video or audio recorded half an hour before the arrest and one hour after the arrest.
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 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Adam Steinbaugh
From: Providence Police Department
City of Providence
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Your first City of Providence record request (request number #23-246) has been submitted.
It is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view.
You will receive a response within ten (10) business days. Your request will be available for the public to view thirty (30) days after you receive a final response.
Request #23-246.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Providence.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
From: Providence Police Department
City of Providence
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A document has been released for record request #23-246:
* 23-12532_Redacted.pdf
Document links are valid for one month.
After March 28, you will need to sign in to view the document(s).
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Providence.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
From: Providence Police Department
City of Providence
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Record request #23-246 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:
We have released today the police report associated with this incident. Kindly note that documents have been redacted, pursuant to the Access to Public Records Act, R.I.G.L. § 38-2-2(4)(D)(c), to prevent the disclosure of information which could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, and R.I.G.L. §§ 11-49.3-2(b) and 38-2-2(4)(S) because they are "records, reports, opinions, information, and statements required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulation or state law, or rule of court."
There is footage from one or more body-worn cameras associated with this incident; it constitutes the remaining document responsive to your request, as the City does not have "dash-cams." The Public Records Unit has conducted an initial review of the responsive documents and has determined that it will take 9 hours of search, retrieval, review and redaction to respond to your request. Under the Access to Public Records Act, the City may charge $15 per hour for search, retrieval, review, and redaction, with the first hour free. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-4(b).
Therefore, if you wish to obtain this video, you will be charged $120 for this request. Please note that this is just an estimate and you will be charged based upon actual time and costs. Please further note that nothing in this message is a determination that the footage is a public record.
Kindly note that the time to respond to your request is tolled pending receipt of your authorization and prepayment in the amount set forth in the estimate. Checks made payable to the City of Providence may be sent to: Public Records Unit, 444 Westminster Street, Suite 220, Providence, RI 02903.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Providence.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
From: Adam Steinbaugh
I will withdraw the remainder of this request. Thank you!
From: Providence Police Department
City of Providence
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-246:
Dear requester,
Understood. We would also like to amend our closure response - we noted that the document had been redacted pursuant to R.I.G.L. §§ 11-49.3-2(b) and 38-2-2(4)(S). That was incorrect; the birthdates, addresses, and phone numbers were only redacted for personal privacy. (For your information, R.I.G.L. §§ 11-49.3-2(b) and 38-2-2(4)(S) are typically cited for these types of reports for us for drivers license numbers, which are confidential under state law.)
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Providence.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
From: Providence Police Department
City of Providence
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Record request #23-246 has been published and is now available for public view.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at City of Providence.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
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