Use of force requests - unresponsive departments (Riverside County Sheriff)

Dear Wesley Lowery:

Thank you for submitting a request for public records to Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Your request was received in this office on 3/7/2023 and given the reference number C000267-030723 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: " To Whom It May Concern:

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

All police incident reports /investigative reports connected to any use of force incident by officers in your department between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022.

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 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Wesley Lowery

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Pursuant to California Government Code § 7922.535, staff will review your request and respond within 10 days to notify you if there are responsive records, or if an extension is necessary to determine if responsive records exist.  If your request was received after business hours or on a weekend or holiday, the next business day will be considered the date of receipt. The 10-day response period starts with the first calendar day after the date of receipt. (Civ. Code § 10.)  You may be contacted by the department if there are questions regarding your request.

PLEASE NOTE: The California Public Records Act (CPRA) does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.

You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Records Request System.
Riverside County Sheriff's Department

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: Public Records Request of March 07, 2023, Reference # C000267-030723

Dear Wesley Lowery,

On March 07, 2023, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department received your request for records under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) wherein you requested the following:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

All police incident reports /investigative reports connected to any use of force incident by officers in your department between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022.

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 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Wesley Lowery

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Uses of Force: (resulting in great bodily injury/death):
We have located the records responsive to your request.  Please visit the Riverside County Sheriff's Department website at www/riversidesheriff.org.  Click on the Transparency button on the top banner and scroll down to Recently Released Records.  This site is updated on a continual basis as investigations are closed and documents are reviewed for release. Uses of Force: (Did NOT result in great bodily injury/death): The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has reviewed your request and has determined that the records requested are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) for the following reasons: Government Code § 7922.000 - the records in question are exempt because, under the facts of this particular case, the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record. Government Code § 7923.600(a)- provides that law enforcement investigation, security and intelligence information file records of a local police agency are exempt from disclosure. Furthermore, as set forth in Rivero v. Superior Court, 54 Cal. App. 4th 1048 (1997), and Williams v. Superior Court, 5 Cal, 4th 337 (1993), the investigatory file exemption to the public records act request is not lost even where the investigation is deemed concluded or terminated. Government Code § 7927.705, read in conjunction with the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") statutory protections, provides that health care patient confidentiality and medical treatment details are exempt from disclosure. Government Code § 7927.705, read in conjunction with the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act ("CACMIA") statutory protections, provides that health care patient confidentiality and medical treatment details are exempt from disclosure. Government Code § 7927.705, read in conjunction with Evidence Code § 1040, provides that official information acquired in confidence by a public employee is exempt from disclosure. Government Code § 7927.705, read in conjunction with Article 1, § 1 of the California Constitution provides that personal information details are subject to privacy rights that make such information exempt from disclosure. California Penal Code 13300 clearly defines the parties entitled to Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI). Specific to Body Worn Camera footage: In addition to the above exemptions, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, after careful review, has determined that the incident described in your request does not meet the criteria for public release. State law creates an exception to the 7923.600(a) exemption that mandates the public release of SB 1421 cases: which are cases involving the use of force by Deputies causing death or great bodily injury, or in Deputy involved shooting cases; among other categories also inapplicable to your request. The incident in which you are requesting is neither a use of force that caused death or great bodily injury to a person, nor discharge of a firearm by Sheriff's Department personnel; nor any of the excepted categories of police conduct. Thus, we are not legally required to release the requested records; we respectfully decline to do so.  The only circumstance in which this footage may be released is in response to a valid subpoena or court order.
Please consider this CPRA request closed.

Sincerely,

Sergeant Justin Pittenger, J.D.
CPRA Unit
Riverside County Sheriff's Department

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RE:Public Records Reference # C000267-030723
Dear Wesley Lowery:
On March 07, 2023, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department received your request for records under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) wherein you requested the following: "To Whom It May Concern:

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

All police incident reports /investigative reports connected to any use of force incident by officers in your department between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022.

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 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Wesley Lowery

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ Department Response: On March 12, 2023, at 9:58 p.m., I received a communication from your asking us to download files to a Dropbox you have established.
The department response provided you with a link which will allow you to download files. We kindly deny the portion of your request to put the record(s) into a specific area.
Sincerely,

Sergeant Justin Pittenger J.D.
CPRA Unit
Riverside County Sheriff's Department