Police department misconduct allegations and disciplinary proceedings

Beryl Lipton filed this request with the Rotterdam Town Police Department of Rotterdam, NY.

It is a clone of this request.

Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: Beryl Lipton

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

All materials and records describing and sufficient to show/disclose all allegations of misconduct made and all disciplinary proceedings taken against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency.

As described in the New York Freedom of Information Law, a record is "any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs, rules, regulations or codes." Records kept in a digital or electronic form are also records, would be responsive to this request, and should be provided.

These records are typically required to be retained under the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 (http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/retention_mu-1), including, but not limited to, item no. 365, which includes: "Investigative records and disciplinary proceedings, including but not limited to statement of charge, transcript of hearing, notice of decision, letter of termination or resignation, letter of reinstatement, record of appeal procedure, and correspondence." While materials under that schedule have a set retention of 3 years after the final decision rendered, this request and materials responsive to it include *all* records held in the possession of any office or individual employed or formerly employed by this policing agency, including those kept off-site, in digital form, and in personnel files.

Please note that any failure to provide all potentially-responsive materials and/or the destruction of materials potentially responsive to this request would be a violation of the spirit of the New York Freedom of Information Law, as well as unlawful under the New York FOIL and the terms of the attached litigation hold notice.

Materials responsive to this request include — but are not limited to — all complaints, reports, records of discipline and penalties, aggregate collections of complaint and disciplinary materials (spreadsheets, databases), investigatory materials, relevant related correspondence, photographs, video, other related evidence, proof of discipline or fulfillment of penalties, and all personnel materials (including those used in promotion, contract, and other employment negotiations and considerations) that reference or utilize misconduct allegations or disciplinary materials of any sort.

Materials responsive to this request include all complaints— internal, external, and civilian — and include records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident/complaint: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the investigation, investigatory materials, the disposition of the case, and any subsequent materials related to the execution of any resultant discipline. Responsive materials include all complaints and allegations against any officer, employee, or representative of this policing agency, regardless of whether that complaint or allegation resulted in any investigation or disciplinary action.

Responsive materials also include all records of use of force by officers, including records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the incident: date, time, location, nature of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the use of force, subsequent investigatory materials related to the use of force, the disposition of any investigation into the incident, and any subsequent materials related to the use of force.

Please provide materials on a rolling basis, beginning with materials created during the following timeframes:
• January 1, 2010 - June 15, 2020
• January 1, 2000 - January 1, 2010
• January 1, 1990 - January 1, 2000
• January 1, 1980 - January 1, 1990
• January 1, 1970 - January 1, 1980

Pursuant to NYCRR Section 1401.5(c)(1), should any of this request be unclear or lack sufficient description for your office, please provide direction that would enable this requester to request records reasonably described. Please also note that the New York FOIL states: "An agency shall not deny a request on the basis that the request is voluminous or that locating or reviewing the requested records or providing the requested copies is burdensome because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any other basis if the agency may engage an outside professional service to provide copying, programming or other services required to provide the copy...." Please also see FOIL AO 19671, an Advisory Opinion from the Committee on Open Government [https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f19671.htm].

If your office has questions about this request or would like to discuss it for any reason, please contact this requester via the contact email address provided and feel free to follow up by phone: 617-299-1832. This request is being submitted to each policing agency in New York as part of a collaborative project led by MuckRock and involving multiple other educational and journalistic partners and participants. For this reason, over the lifetime of this request, your agency may interface with individuals not listed on this initial communication.

This request is being made in the public interest by a news organization as part of non-profit (not commercial) journalistic work and research on behalf of the public. 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 and as part of the necessary negotiations for successful processing. As far as it is possible, please fulfill elements of this request 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,

Beryl Lipton

  • MuckRock_Litigation_Hold_-_Template20-202020-06-18T134816.744.pdf

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Good afternoon,

Please see the attached re: your FOIL request.

Thank you.

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Good afternoon,

Please see the attached re: your FOIL request.

Thank you.

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Dear Ms. Lipton,

Please see the attached letter regarding your FOIL request.

Sincerely,
Kate McGuirl, Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Rotterdam
1100 Sunrise Blvd.
Rotterdam, New York 12306
Phone: 518.355.7575, ext. 322
Fax: 518.355.7976

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Dear Ms. Lipton

Attached herewith, please find an extension letter signed by our FOIL Officer, Steve Tommasone.

Sharon Hoy-Tallman
Paralegal

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Good afternoon

Attached herewith, please find a copy of a letter regarding your FOIL request. Thank you for your patience and consideration in this matter.

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Good afternoon
Attached herewith, please find an extension letter signed by our FOIL Officer, Steve Tommasone.
Sharon Hoy-Tallman
Paralegal

  • MuckRock20December20202020Extension20Letter2012.10.2020.pdf

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

Good afternoon

Attached herewith, please find a copy of a letter requesting an extension.

Sharon Hoy-Tallman
Paralegal

Town of Rotterdam
1100 Sunrise Boulevard
Rotterdam, New York 12306

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello,

I hope this message finds you and your team well. I'm wondering if you could please provide an estimated completion date for this request. I last heard from your office in December. I understand that it may take a while longer to process this FOIL, but having a realistic sense of when the request will be completed will help me to avoid unnecessary follow-up messages.

Thanks so much for your help.

Best,
Beryl

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

FYI
This was emailed to me today.
Thank you

Diane M. Marco
Rotterdam Town Clerk
1100 Sunrise Blvd.
Rotterdam, NY 12306
518-355-7575 Ext. 318 Cell-518-428-4240
dmarco@rotterdamny.org

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

To all;
I received this email today. Will someone be emailing Beryl back on the current status?
Thank you

Diane M. Marco
Rotterdam Town Clerk
1100 Sunrise Blvd.
Rotterdam, NY 12306
518-355-7575 Ext. 318 Cell-518-428-4240
dmarco@rotterdamny.org

From: Rotterdam Town Police Department

To whom this may concern:
Please know that we are still working on this foil we have had a new Town Board and new attorney effective January 1, 2022. If you are emailing you can take off the Attorney Kate McGuirl, and Sharon Hoy-Tallman, and add Jonathon Tingley who is the town attorney to your email list. His email is jtingley@gilchristtingley.com
Thank you
Diane M. Marco
Rotterdam Town Clerk
1100 Sunrise Blvd.
Rotterdam, NY 12306
518-355-7575 Ext. 318 Cell-518-428-4240
dmarco@rotterdamny.org

Files

pages

Close
  • 06/18/2020

    MuckRock_Litigation_Hold_-_Template20-202020-06-18T134816.744.pdf

  • 06/25/2020

    MuckRock News_5 Day Letter

  • 07/24/2020

    MuckRock News_Extension Letter_30 Business Days

  • 09/04/2020

    MuckRock Extension Letter September 4 2020

  • 09/28/2020

    MuckRock Extension Letter September 25 2020[2650]

  • 11/04/2020

    MuckRock October 2020 Extension Letter

  • 12/10/2020

    MuckRock20December20202020Extension20Letter2012.10.2020.pdf

  • 12/10/2020

    MuckRock December 2020 Extension Letter 12.10.2020