Internal police policies on domestic violence committed by employees (Sedgwick County Sheriff)

Beryl,

This request (below) was sent to our Finance office, so I was not able to address it promptly. Now that I have received it, I am forwarding to the Sheriff’s Office for review. If you do not receive a response within three (3) business days, please let me know so I can troubleshoot.

In the future, any KORA requests you wish to submit for Sedgwick County records may be addressed to me.

Jennifer L. Scriven, MA | Records Manager & Freedom of Information Officer | Sedgwick County Department of Central Services
p: (316) 660-9846 | f: (316) 941-5105 | jennifer.scriven@sedgwick.gov<mailto:jennifer.scriven@sedgwick.gov> | Open Records: kora-fio@sedgwick.gov<mailto:kora-fio@sedgwick.gov>
525 N. Main, Courthouse Records Center | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/SedgwickCounty>
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On Aug. 24, 2020:
Subject: The Kansas Open Records Act Request: Internal police policies on domestic violence committed by employees (Sedgwick County Sheriff)
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the The Kansas Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records regarding this agency’s procedures for handling alleged and actual acts of domestic violence by its employees:

POLICIES and PROCEDURES
• The current or most recent applicable policy and guidance regarding this agency's response to complaints and allegations of domestic violence made against its employees
• All policies and guidance related to reporting by this agency (to the state government, federal government, private researchers, and any other party) of domestic violence committed by or alleged against employees of this agency
• A blank copy of all forms and logs used in the process of recording and addressing domestic violence allegations against and investigations of employees of this agency

COMPLAINTS and INVESTIGATIONS
• All materials (including but not limited to all complaints, reports, investigatory materials, internal affairs reports, and any other records) related to all allegations of domestic violence made against employees of this agency for the period from January 1, 2010 through July 31, 2020.
• All aggregate data related to allegations and investigations of domestic violence committed by this agency's employees for the period from January 1, 2010 through July 31, 2020.
• All reports, data, and other reporting materials provided by this agency to any other entity (including but not limited to the state government, the federal government, private researchers, and any other party) on domestic violence committed by or alleged against employees of this agency

This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted to your agency at the suggestion of a MuckRock reader from your community, part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide. This has been of public interest for many years and is of particular interest to the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and subsequent First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion. There is no commercial interest in making this request or in receiving responsive records.

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 3 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton

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PLEASE NOTE: This request was filed by a MuckRock staff reporter. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
[http://email.requests.muckrock.com/o/eJwNyksOgyAQANDTlCUZfoMu2EjSC_QAjQ6jEj-kqO316_q9FJxDwVuf13dOQSnnnTViDshsdPLj6AyQs8SKTEND79MwgDcoctCgAVqloAWlQSoZI3ZoNOpngxA7-7BQ-XPxcR5yu2iphRZJZRM1dJX3U75mXs-y3-_gNP3yzVP5_gEQzSw6]

Mr. Lipton,

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office is in receipt of your request via email dated September 15, 2020 in which you have requested:

“POLICIES and PROCEDURES
• The current or most recent applicable policy and guidance regarding this agency's response to complaints and allegations of domestic violence made against its employees
• All policies and guidance related to reporting by this agency (to the state government, federal government, private researchers, and any other party) of domestic violence committed by or alleged against employees of this agency
• A blank copy of all forms and logs used in the process of recording and addressing domestic violence allegations against and investigations of employees of this agency

COMPLAINTS and INVESTIGATIONS
• All materials (including but not limited to all complaints, reports, investigatory materials, internal affairs reports, and any other records) related to all allegations of domestic violence made against employees of this agency for the period from January 1, 2010 through July 31, 2020.
• All aggregate data related to allegations and investigations of domestic violence committed by this agency's employees for the period from January 1, 2010 through July 31, 2020.
• All reports, data, and other reporting materials provided by this agency to any other entity (including but not limited to the state government, the federal government, private researchers, and any other party) on domestic violence committed by or alleged against employees of this agency

This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted to your agency at the suggestion of a MuckRock reader from your community, part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide. This has been of public interest for many years and is of particular interest to the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and subsequent First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion. There is no commercial interest in making this request or in receiving responsive records.

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.”

We are looking into your request and will start to gather the information. I would like for you to be aware that there will be charges for the information that you are requesting. We charge $.025 per page and $23.85 per hour for research and processing. You had stated that you wanted to be informed of charges in advance of fulfilling your request. I can only give you an estimate. Maybe 20-30 pages and maybe 2 hours of research and processing.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any further questions.

Teresa McCabe
KORA Compliance Specialist|Special Projects Unit|Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
p: (316) 660-3887 | f: (316) 660-3867 | teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov<mailto:teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov>
141 W. Elm St. | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/SedgwickCounty>

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Mr. Lipton,

We have completed your request. It took a couple of hours longer than I had originally quoted you.

The reports and information that are being provided to you are available and ready to be either emailed or sent to you by regular mail. At this time we are not allowing any records to be picked up in person. Please let me know how you would like the record sent to you.

The responsive records will be made available to you upon payment of $100.40 (20 pages at $0.25 per page ($5.00) plus 4 hours of research and processing at $12.78 per hour ($95.40)).

Acceptable means of payment are by credit/debit card, or by mailing a check. When paying with credit/debit card, there will be a small convenience fee. I will be able to assist you with this purchase. My phone number is (316)660-3788, and if mailing a check, our address is 141 W. Elm St., Wichita, KS 67203, Attn: Teresa McCabe.

You may contact us should you have questions.

Teresa McCabe
KORA Compliance Specialist|Special Projects Unit|Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
p: (316) 660-3887 | f: (316) 660-3867 | teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov<mailto:teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov>
141 W. Elm St. | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/SedgwickCounty>

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Mr. Lipton,

I was just following up with you to see if you are still interested in the information that you have requested from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed?

Teresa McCabe
KORA Compliance Specialist|Special Projects Unit|Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
p: (316) 660-3788 | f: (316) 660-3867 | teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov<mailto:teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov>
141 W. Elm St. | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/SedgwickCounty>

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Mr. Lipton,

I was just following up with you to see if you are still interested in the information that you initially requested from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office.

Please let me know if you would like to proceed?

Teresa McCabe
KORA Compliance Specialist|Special Projects Unit|Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
p: (316) 660-3788 | f: (316) 660-3867 | teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov<mailto:teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov>
141 W. Elm St. | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/SedgwickCounty>

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Mr. Lipton,

I am just following up with you to see if you are still interested in the information that you initially requested from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office on October 2nd.

Please let me know if you would like to proceed with this request.

Teresa McCabe
KORA Compliance Specialist|Special Projects Unit|Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
p: (316) 660-3788 | f: (316) 660-3867 | teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov<mailto:teresa.mccabe@sedgwick.gov>
141 W. Elm St. | Wichita, KS 67203 | www.sedgwickcounty.org<http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sedgwickcounty> |

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