California Public Records Act Request: SB 1421 Police Records (Santa Paula PD)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

SB 1421 became law in January 2019 in the State of California. (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1421)
Under it, records pertaining to certain kinds of police incidents are newly eligible for disclosure under CPRA.

I am making the following request for all sworn police officers with the agency. Attached is a roster of such sworn officers from 2010. If there are current additional sworn officers not included in this roster, please include those additional officers in this request. If there are officers included in the attached roster that are no longer with the agency, I request historical records for that officer.

I hereby request the following records for each listed officer at the agency:

a) Incidents involving the discharge of a firearm at a person by a peace or custodial officer

b) Incidents in which the use of force by a peace officer or custodial officer against a person resulted in death, or in great bodily injury

c) Any record(s) relating to any incident(s) in which a sustained finding was made by any law enforcement agency or oversight agency that a peace officer or custodial officer engaged in sexual assault involving a member of the public.

d) Any record(s) relating to any incident(s) in which a sustained finding was made by any law enforcement agency or oversight agency of dishonesty by a peace officer or custodial officer directly relating to the reporting, investigation, or prosecution of a crime, or directly relating to the reporting of, or investigation of misconduct by, another peace officer or custodial officer, including, but not limited to, any sustained finding of perjury, false statements, filing false reports, destruction, falsifying, or concealing of evidence.

e) any civilian complaint that is not otherwise encapsulated by the aforementioned, and is not exempt from disclosure.

This includes all of the following pertinent documents, as described in the statute:
photographic, audio, and video evidence; transcripts or recordings of interviews; autopsy reports; all materials compiled and presented for review to the district attorney or to any person or body charged with determining whether to file criminal charges against an officer in connection with an incident, or whether the officer’s action was consistent with law and agency policy for purposes of discipline or administrative action, or what discipline to impose or corrective action to take; documents setting forth findings or recommended findings; and copies of disciplinary records relating to the incident, including any letters of intent to impose discipline, any documents reflecting modifications of discipline due to the Skelly or grievance process, and letters indicating final imposition of discipline or other documentation reflecting implementation of corrective action.

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,

Sarah Aspell