NH police budget and employment data (Strafford County) (Somersworth Police Department)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the following records related to this municipality's police department hiring, employment, and funding for the budget years 2000 through 2020:

BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities for the years 2000 through 2020.

If possible, please provide the itemized budget allocated for public safety and police department activities for each year, as well as records sufficient to show any additional funding received through other means, including but not limited to:
• funds for capital expenditures
• grants
• donations

HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
• The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality’s public safety or law enforcement department

If any of the requested information is available in aggregate form, provision of this aggregate information by year would likely satisfy this request. If there are any known caveats involved with the data and information your office is able to provide, I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me.

*Please note* that if any of the requested information is held by another office or agency, direction to the appropriate office would be greatly appreciated.

This request is being made on behalf of the statewide nonprofit Granite State News Collaborative. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. It is being made as part of a journalistic data collection effort to benefit news organizations and the public good throughout the State of New Hampshire.

If your office anticipates that fees associated with the processing of 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 be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Please call 617-500-7123 with any questions about this request. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within five business days, as required by law.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I really appreciate your time and help.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton and the Granite State News Collaborative

Hi Chief Kretschmar,

My name is Cassidy Jensen and I'm a reporter with the Concord Monitor working on this project. Thank you for this response to this request - I'll reach out to the Somersworth City Clerk for the budget information.

Can you clarify the fees you mentioned for the employment and hiring information? I can inspect the records you mention in person if they are available now, assuming you are not able to send an electronic copy. New Hampshire's Right to Know law affords citizens the right to inspect government records for free. Are those records that you mentioned would take 30-60 days in your September response available now?

Thanks again for your help with this request and please feel free to contact me with any questions at 603-369-3322.

Thanks,
Cassidy

Hi Chief Kretschmar,

I'm writing to check up on the status of this request. Thank you so much for your help!

Best,
Cassidy