Purchase and 'less lethal' deployment records (San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2015 of any of the following:
• Firearms of .50 caliber or greater
• Patrol rifles (as commonly denominated for law enforcement use) or assault rifles (as defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the California Penal Code)
• Wheeled vehicles that are built or modified to provide ballistic protection to their occupants, such as Bearcats or armored personnel carriers.
• Projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents
• Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)

2. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2018 of explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flash bang" grenades and explosive breaching tools, and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

3. Records of deployment by your agency since January 1, 2020 of projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents; explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flashbang" grenades and explosive breaching tools; and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

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.

If you would like to discuss this request, please feel free to reach out to me, John Lindsay-Poland, American Friends Service Committee, at 510-282-8983.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

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,

John Lindsay-Poland

Dear Ms. Hegge,

Thank you for your letter of response to my Public Records Act request.

In my opinion, you grossly misconstrued by request. I did not request, as you state, records of intelligence information, security procedures, personal identifying information, analysis of an investigating officer, investigative records, criminal history of any subject, or records of criminal evidence. I requested purchase records and records of equipment deployment. If the latter contain any material that is exempt through provisions of the CPRA, you are of course at liberty to redact it. But my request is much simpler and more straightforward than your letter suggests.

In any case, I look forward to receiving your determination and response by December 13.

Thanks and best,
John Lindsay-Poland

Dear Ms. Hegge,

Thank you for sending the partial records as you continue to complete our PRA request. Could you please let us know when we can expect our requests to be answered in full? In particular, the request was for records "sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency" for the described items. The document you provided shows a ledger, but is not sufficient to show what was purchased. Please let us know when we can expect the rest of the requested items. Thanks very much for your help in this.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Tu
American Friends Service Committee

Dear Sheriff's Office,

Please share a link at which your Military Equipment use policy will be posted. It was not visible anywhere on the Sheriff's Office site as of April 16.

Thanks.

John Lindsay-Poland

Hi,

Thanks for your help with this request. I appreciate it.

Sincerely,
John Lindsay-Poland