Unmarked Vehicle Data, Policies, Reporting, Use (Seattle Police Department)
| Tracking # |
P061745-080120 |
| Multi Request | Unmarked Vehicle Data, Policies, Reporting, Use |
| Submitted | July 30, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | Oct. 20, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records regarding the use and reporting of use of unmarked vehicles by representatives and employees of this agency:
POLICY
All policies, statutes, and guidance used to govern the use of unmarked vehicles or any other vehicle used or in the possession of this agency that is not clearly and obviously marked as a law enforcement vehicle.
Please include all policies regarding access to such vehicles, use of the vehicles, internal reporting requirements when such vehicles are used, and external reporting requirements.
FORMS and GUIDANCE
A blank version of all forms and logs used by this agency in relation unmarked vehicles, including all those used to track use, damage, and the inventory of vehicles.
DATA
All available data, reports, audits, and other aggregated information regarding this agency’s inventory and use of unmarked vehicles for the period from January 1, 2015 through July 31, 2020.
OTHER
In the initial acknowledgement letter from your agency, if you could please include an indication of whether your agency does use unmarked vehicles in some form, that would be appreciated.
For reference, here are examples of the kinds of materials that would be responsive to this request:
• Pennsylvania state statute (http://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol35/35-2/55.html);
• opinion of the Wisconsin Attorney General (https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/oag/archival/_293/_1/_16);
• Orlando Police Department policy (https://www.orlando.gov/files/sharedassets/public/documents/opd/policies-and-procedures/police-operations/1132.3-response-to-calls-traffic-stops-by-unmarked-police-vehicles.pdf);
• Howard County, Maryland Internal Audit Report of Police Take-Home Vehicle Program Audit - May 2018 (https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=xwqgv-M7q9g%3D&tabid=132&portalid=0)
• Minneapolis’s Daily Activity Report (MP-3006) and Equipment Work Order Log (MP-5400)
If any portion of materials responsive to this request should be deemed unavailable or non-disclosable, please specifically identify the portions of the records or the specific information that is unavailable and the reason for the unavailability.
If any portion of this request is unclear or if this request could be modified to reduce the burden of producing responsive documents or provide them more efficiently or expeditiously, please reply with a request for clarification or a proposed modification.
This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted as part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide, which has been of public interest for many years and which is of particular interest to large new swaths of the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and the First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion that have followed.
In the event that there are fees appropriately assessed in association with this request, 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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
From: Seattle Police Department
At this time, the Seattle Police Department’s Legal Unit is operating under an extreme backlog of requests, staffing shortages, the redeployment of supporting units to SPD’s frontline COVID-19 response, and, pursuant to CDC recommendations and City direction, reassignment to remote access. For these reasons, our ability to process new requests is substantially limited; we are currently estimating minimum response timelines, depending on the volume and complexity of requests, in excess of 6-12 months. Current requests should likewise anticipate that it will take additional time to process records and respond. We apologize for any inconvenience, and deeply appreciate your understanding as we all pull together, in the face of this unprecedented, pandemic public crisis, to manage as best we can our business operations.
Dear Beryl Lipton:
Thank you for using the Seattle Police Public Records Request Center.
Your request was received on August 01, 2020and the reference number is P061745-080120.
If the City's representative entered your request into the system and you didn't specifically register:
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To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records regarding the use and reporting of use of unmarked vehicles by representatives and employees of this agency:
POLICY
All policies, statutes, and guidance used to govern the use of unmarked vehicles or any other vehicle used or in the possession of this agency that is not clearly and obviously marked as a law enforcement vehicle.
Please include all policies regarding access to such vehicles, use of the vehicles, internal reporting requirements when such vehicles are used, and external reporting requirements.
FORMS and GUIDANCE
A blank version of all forms and logs used by this agency in relation unmarked vehicles, including all those used to track use, damage, and the inventory of vehicles.
DATA
All available data, reports, audits, and other aggregated information regarding this agency’s inventory and use of unmarked vehicles for the period from January 1, 2015 through July 31, 2020.
OTHER
In the initial acknowledgement letter from your agency, if you could please include an indication of whether your agency does use unmarked vehicles in some form, that would be appreciated.
For reference, here are examples of the kinds of materials that would be responsive to this request:
• Pennsylvania state statute (http://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol35/35-2/55.html);
• opinion of the Wisconsin Attorney General (https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/oag/archival/_293/_1/_16);
• Orlando Police Department policy (https://www.orlando.gov/files/sharedassets/public/documents/opd/policies-and-procedures/police-operations/1132.3-response-to-calls-traffic-stops-by-unmarked-police-vehicles.pdf);
• Howard County, Maryland Internal Audit Report of Police Take-Home Vehicle Program Audit - May 2018 (https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=xwqgv-M7q9g%3D&tabid=132&portalid=0)
• Minneapolis’s Daily Activity Report (MP-3006) and Equipment Work Order Log (MP-5400)
If any portion of materials responsive to this request should be deemed unavailable or non-disclosable, please specifically identify the portions of the records or the specific information that is unavailable and the reason for the unavailability.
If any portion of this request is unclear or if this request could be modified to reduce the burden of producing responsive documents or provide them more efficiently or expeditiously, please reply with a request for clarification or a proposed modification.
This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted as part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide, which has been of public interest for many years and which is of particular interest to large new swaths of the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and the First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion that have followed.
In the event that there are fees appropriately assessed in association with this request, 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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
From: Seattle Police Department
08/03/2020
Beryl Lipton
requests@muckrock.com
RE: Public Disclosure Request #: P061745-080120
Dear Beryl Lipton,
This communication is in response to your public disclosure request.
The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you a status update. Your request status is: Assigned.
If you have any questions, you may send messages using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)
This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.
SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing between 1400 to 1500 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.
From: Seattle Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
08/10/2020
Beryl Lipton
requests@muckrock.com
RE: Public Disclosure Request#: P061745-080120
Dear Beryl Lipton,
This communication is in response to your public disclosure request received on August 01, 2020. At this time, the Seattle Police Department’s Legal Unit is operating under an extreme backlog of requests, staffing shortages, the redeployment of supporting units to SPD’s frontline COVID-19 response, and, pursuant to CDC recommendations and City direction, reassignment to remote access. For these reasons, our ability to process new requests is substantially limited; we are currently estimating minimum response timelines, depending on the volume and complexity of requests, in excess of 6-12 months. Current requests should likewise anticipate that it will take additional time to process records and respond. We apologize for any inconvenience, and deeply appreciate your understanding as we all pull together, in the face of this unprecedented, pandemic public crisis, to manage as best we can our business operations.
Pursuant to RCW 42.56.520, this is notification that the Seattle Police Department has received your public disclosure records request and needs additional time to respond.
At this time, we anticipate having a response or a status update to you on or about 10/20/2020.
We are initiating the process of researching your request, collecting responsive records, and/or preparing records for dissemination.
If you have any questions, you may send a message using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.
Sincerely,
Dianalynn Oreiro
Seattle Police Department
Legal Unit
SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing between 1400 to 1500 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.
As a reminder you can login at the Police Records Request Center where you can access Police online information, manage your profile, submit record requests, track your request status, receive and send messages, make payments, view frequently asked questions, and download your records.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)
From: Seattle Police Department
08/10/2020
Beryl Lipton
requests@muckrock.com
RE: Public Disclosure Request#: P061745-080120
Dear Beryl Lipton,
This communication is in response to your public disclosure request.
The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you a status update. Your request status is: Being Researched/Reviewed.
If you have any questions, you may send messages using the Police Records Request Center or call the Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox.
This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.
SPD receives between 7000 and 8000 public records requests annually and is processing between 1400 to 1500 open requests at a time. This may result in a slower than anticipated response to your request. Thank you for your patience.
From: Seattle Police Department
This email is in further response to your public disclosure records request P061745-080120. The Seattle Police Department has records ready to be released pending payment.
You have 30 days from today's date to pay for your records. If the City does not receive your payment within this time period, your request will be considered abandoned, and you will need to submit a new request.
SPD strongly encourages online payments during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
To pay online, please follow these steps:
* Navigate to the Public Records Request Center.
* Select 'My Records Request Center'.
* Select 'View My Requests'. You may be asked to login.
* Find this request: P061745-080120.
* Select the 'View Invoices' button.
* Opens a pop-up window showing your invoice: INV20-P061745-1.
* Click on the invoice and then the 'Pay Now' button.
* Continue processing your payment.
* Select 'Done'.
* Once the payment process is done, you are returned to the Public Records Request Center.
* After your payment is successful you will receive an email from our payments center. After we receive your payment through the Police Records Request Center Secure Payments, the Public Disclosure Unit will release your records within one to two business days and send you a notice with instructions on how to download the records.
Please add seattle@mycusthelp.net to your E-mail contacts/address book to ensure delivery of the record center E-mails to your Inbox. (mailto:seattle@mycusthelp.net)
This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.
Files
There are no files associated with this request.