arrest and other communication (Spokane Police Department)

c. darling

Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Spokane.  Your request has been received and is being processed.  Your request was received in this office on July 28, 2021 and given the reference number P004354-072821 for tracking purposes.
Date/Date Range Start:
Date Range End:
Description of Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

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

ALL arrest records for Elizabeth Houser, including any and all other communications, meetings, notes written or audio

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

c.c. darling

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City department(s) to locate the records you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request.  You will be contacted about the availability of the records in question.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed.  Again, thank you for using the Spokane Records Center.
City of Spokane

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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HSVD4CrS9uFW2stupoI-2F3P-2FCR9v4w4dDGSabyWOuZGyK73EIPwhayp6yerTiw-2FMwyAatRlrvnO7ENj4b1rLl3GE-3Dzdt5_ibRS2aIHgTj7CweWZMhT6fMW0rstapHLM1nsSJBzZraSN5rgaXyaf447-2B1pm27ZCpADksjdMW0rgXu-2F0kmNHHqcsklIfn3HFtkYfudO1LG-2FeCT7MDTtAOAY5-2BzPq17svIAp9nN4uM5bydRW21KWJ5O32-2B7eKVZ5C7rULg3GWU3jOsEIDritpNHiryn5-2FCIDCj0Mn3FQ3ERTwk1fVbhYVKDfy-2FsGel-2BK7jLAJ2HCSZ2pp-2B9l9u8W1zLFipAqxE-2FQFBy9lNhViFWAanOZWdELyPgZ91h66s-2FehQ9Jkn9caS1cMDNM2vu8nCzaLV-2BBA4Y0JBFFYWoV-2BaUcHL4c9AiTZPc-2BLt5knmxvczmkiIhDpqmZua-2Bv-2BL2IuH2VW-2FYwwv-2BSLlF9mXpTPwrACFxjBWtO4yA-3D-3D)
In accordance with the Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56.520, this message acknowledges receipt of your PRA request, received by the City of Spokane on July 28, 2021.  This request has been assigned tracking number P004354-072821.  Please use this number in any communications concerning this request.
Your request states: To Whom It May Concern:

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

ALL arrest records for Elizabeth Houser, including any and all other communications, meetings, notes written or audio

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Your request was forwarded to Police Records Unit staff for review.  Police Records staff have advised that in order to proceed with searching/compiling records, additional information will be needed to ensure that we are searching/compiling the specific records you seek.  Please clarify your request by providing a date of birth or specific case information (date/time/location/incident number) for Elizabeth Houser.  Once clarification is received, staff will be able to proceed with a search for any responsive records.  Pending clarification from you, we anticipate requiring approximately 45 days from the date of your clarification within which to make an installment of records and/or to conclude your request.
Please provide the requested clarification above within 30 days of today's date, or by September 7, 2021.  If no such clarification is received from you by September 7, we will consider your request abandoned and will subsequently close it.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to City Clerk Terri Pfister’s August 5, 2021, correspondence to you wherein she sought clarification regarding your public records request assigned tracking number P004354-072821, with any such clarification to be provided to the City Clerk’s Office by September 7, 2021.

As to our knowledge, no such clarification has been received. Section 6.1.3 of the City's Public Records Request Policy and Procedures states, in part, the following:
If the requestor does not provide clarification in response to a request by the Public Records Officer for clarification, within thirty (30) days of the clarification request having been made, the City will consider the request abandoned as to those portion for which clarification was requested but not received, and advise the requestor in writing that the request has been closed as to those portions. Should the requestor, after such closure, provide clarification, his or her clarified request shall be considered a new request and shall be processed as such, and other public records requests can be processed ahead of such a clarified request.

Therefore, we are considering your request to be abandoned and closed, and a new request would be required for any records you may still be seeking in this matter.

If you feel there has been any misunderstanding or if we may be of further assistance, please advise.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist
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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to your September 16, 2021, clarification regarding your July 28, 2021 public records request assigned tracking number P004354-072821 wherein you state the following: i am not stopping my original request for all documentation regarding Elizabeth Houser. I want ALL records relevant as previously stated-- if there is more than one Elizabeth Houser i want those also-- so search for the name Elizabeth Houser please and release all previously asked for records. thank you Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Per your September 16 correspondence, we have re-opened your request and your clarification was forwarded to staff in the City's Police Records Unit for review and compiling of any responsive records.
We reasonably anticipate requiring approximately 75 days, or until on or about December 6, 2021, to provide an installment for your request. We will follow up with you on or about that date regarding the status of your request. If public records become available in advance of this estimate, we will let you know. Conversely, if City staff encounters a need to extend our estimate, we will advise accordingly.
Sincerely,
Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist
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Attachments:
INV21-P004354-1_P004354-072821.pdf (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HSVD4CrS9uFW2stupoI-2F3P-2FCR9v4w4dDGSabyWOuZGyK8OFIkL85kcr3-2FRmi6CztbK-2FfWd4L27b4WpL3SrOx0FA9AcTRObQd2mjYQwupRNgL73iAB0U8aaKJAN32vNxW3ooNK47HgQSA-2BN3VU9ebM9e0lhSxG0H1tnL3jtdUvGRRSXBZgNmwzoPfSn4IQt4pVCNyMVQXRRptgptCL4XmFek-3Di0ga_ibRS2aIHgTj7CweWZMhT6fMW0rstapHLM1nsSJBzZraSN5rgaXyaf447-2B1pm27ZCpADksjdMW0rgXu-2F0kmNHHqulb8uyEJrh1aTs2atMujXYh40uRx8uwDQgCt-2B-2FC4ZxzKshZQDJZjDW9A8TuL6Lr2usguvPCa6QE4Im2XVEMntIsP96fYFIphtrWjW3HegWCo-2FaBNR33DQNnK-2BAXliE-2BlYuPBJmn4AIM0fqg3VtvlrzvBKD0rZnnr2stpkvbDEApMRo7oxFUP4zIr-2BjVqTh3VIy7XyKtyGEiY-2BxcO3hB3dvF-2B-2BCnASB5RMfURkPJdnkzRW2PV7YmjXeLx3DfBcMA-2BZUWoIxA2NWnL-2FA-2FLKz99Sp0Az-2B7RhAypUesUzVXStNXUeVFMMnH6tiZT7OqCrsow-3D-3D)

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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HSVD4CrS9uFW2stupoI-2F3P-2FCR9v4w4dDGSabyWOuZGyK73EIPwhayp6yerTiw-2FMwyAatRlrvnO7ENj4b1rLl3GE-3DuNTk_ibRS2aIHgTj7CweWZMhT6fMW0rstapHLM1nsSJBzZraSN5rgaXyaf447-2B1pm27ZCpADksjdMW0rgXu-2F0kmNHHqulb8uyEJrh1aTs2atMujXYh40uRx8uwDQgCt-2B-2FC4ZxzKshZQDJZjDW9A8TuL6Lr2usguvPCa6QE4Im2XVEMntIsP96fYFIphtrWjW3HegWCo-2FaBNR33DQNnK-2BAXliE-2BlYuPBJmn4AIM0fqg3VtvlrzvBKD0rZnnr2stpkvbDEAlPYJza3V9gmpkwl-2FQc2xXvPBZnyw7mQrQ3RMbMCzE-2FbBJipdZcunoKfMRm3xjzfBcHL40ocdNrjRmlubF0smR2IzUrRRP3GA78E2ND-2BPE47Vl5takYCS6-2Bff6Z1gZO2pofPRYjnwCIdUfbqEwU4jYQ-3D-3D)
This is a follow up to my September 20, 2021, message to you below regarding your July 28, 2021, public records request assigned tracking number P004354-072821.

This is to advise that responsive body camera records have been located by Police Records Unit staff, however, there are applicable charges due to the number of files and data located, plus the redactions that were performed. The charge for files is $.05 for every 4 files located, staff located 48 files and the charge for data located is $.10 per GB, staff located 71.4 GB. There were redactions that had to be performed to the body camera video. Police Records Unit charges 39 cents per minutes it takes them to redact the footage. It took staff 248.37 minutes to perform redactions. The total amount due is $104.60 ($.60 for the files plus $71.40 for data plus $96.86 for body camera redactions). Available through your GovQA account is an invoice with an amount due of $104.60, which you can pay through the City’s online public records portal (GovQA) via credit or debit card. Attached is a copy of the invoice for reference. Once payment is made, we will make the records available to you via your GovQA account.

Section 6.1.6 of the City’s Public Records Request Policy and Procedures states, in part the following:

6.1.6 Inspection of records.
. . .
b. The requestor must claim or review the assembled records within thirty (30) days of the City’s notification to him or her that the records are available for inspection or copying. The City will notify the requestor in writing of this requirement and inform the requestor that he or she should contact the City to make arrangements to claim or review the records.  If the requestor or a representative of the requestor fails to claim or review the records within the thirty (30)-day period or make other arrangements, the City may close the request and refile the assembled records. Other public records requests can be processed ahead of a subsequent request by the same person for the same or almost identical records, which can be processed as a new request. If the requestor fails to clarify an unclear request within thirty (30) days of the City’s request for clarification, the City may consider the request abandoned after sending a closing letter to the requestor.

Please remit payment of $104.60 within 30 day’s of today’s date, or by January 5, 2022. Once payment is received, we anticipate requiring approximately 60 days from the date of payment within which to provide a next installment of records for your request. If we have not received payment from you by January 5, we will suspend any further work on your request and we will consider it abandoned and closed, and a new request would be required after January 5.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist
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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to my December 6, 2021, message to you regarding your July 28, 2021, public records request assigned tracking number P004354-072821.

This is to advise that responsive records located by Police Records Unit staff, which consist of arrest records for Elizabeth Houser, are available by accessing your account via the "My Request Center" on the City’s public records request portal (GovQA).

Some of the information in the provided records has been determined to be exempt from disclosure and that information has been redacted. Also available via your "My Request Center" account is an exemption log which identifies the exempt information and the reasons for and statutes relied upon for withholding the information.

In accordance with Section 6.5 of the City’s Public Records Request policy, if you wish to appeal a determination to withhold information, you may petition in writing or by email to the City Clerk’s Office for a review of the determination within sixty (60) days of the denial of access.  Please include a copy of, or reasonably identify, the part of the response to which you object.  Your petition will be forwarded to the Hearing Examiner, who will consider the petition and either affirm or reverse the determination within ten (10) business days following the City’s receipt of the petition, or within such greater period of time as the City and the requestor mutually agree to. You may obtain a court review of the denial of your request pursuant to RCW 42.56.520 at the conclusion of the two business days after the initial denial, regardless of any internal administrative review.  The complete Public Records Request Policy may be accessed at the following website: https://my.spokanecity.org/administrative/public-records/.

In my December 6 correspondence to you, I advised there were body camera records located by Police Records Unit staff, however, there were applicable charges due to the number of files and data located, plus redactions. This was a first installment of available body camera.  I requested payment be made within 30 days, or by January 5, 2022. To the best of my knowledge, no payment has been received from you by the specified date of January 5, 2022.

Section 6.1.6 of the City's Public Records Request Policy and Procedures states, in part, the following:
b. The requestor must claim or review the assembled records within thirty (30) days of the City’s notification to him or her that the records are available for inspection or copying. The City will notify the requestor in writing of this requirement and inform the requestor that he or she should contact the City to make arrangements to claim or review the records.  If the requestor or a representative of the requestor fails to claim or review the records within the thirty (30)-day period or make other arrangements, the City may close the request and refile the assembled records. Other public records requests can be processed ahead of a subsequent request by the same person for the same or almost identical records, which can be processed as a new request. If the requestor fails to clarify an unclear request within thirty (30) days of the City’s request for clarification, the City may consider the request abandoned after sending a closing letter to the requestor.

Therefore, as no payment for the body camera records has been made, we are considering this portion of your request to be abandoned and closed. If you feel there has been any misunderstanding, please advise.  If you decide at a later date that you wish to obtain the body camera records, a new public records request will be required.

On September 16, 2021, in response to our request for clarification, you stated:  I want ALL records as previously stated-- if there is more than one Elizabeth Houser I want those also-- so..."   We note that your initial request submitted on July 28, 2021, states you are seeking “…ALL arrest records for Elizabeth Houser, including any and all other communications, meetings, notes written or audio…”  Based on your initially submitted request, staff have interpreted your request to be seeking arrest records for Elizabeth Houser.   Police Department staff indicated they searched all names with the name Elizabeth Houser and located one person who had arrest records.  Those arrest records are what have been made available to you under your "My Request Center" account. If we have misunderstood or misinterpreted your request in any way and/or you are seeking any remaining records under this portion of your request, please clarify.  For instance, if you are seeking police incident reports regarding any individuals with the name Elizabeth Houser (even though they may not be related to an arrest), please clarify.

As indicated above, a portion of your initially submitted request on July 28 states "...including any and all other communications, meetings, notes written or audio..."  When you state "communications," did you intend for an email search to be conducted as part of your request? If so, what is the date range under which you would like us to search? Further, please advise and clarify as to what search terms you would like City staff to utilize for the email search.  For instance, based on the information provided in your request, are you amenable to the below search terms:

Date Range:  To be clarified by you
TO/FROM: Police Department staff
Keywords:  “Elizabeth Houser” and “arrest”

You are welcome to make whatever modifications you would like in the above search terms.  If by “communications” you are attempting to seek any other records other than those already made available to you and those that may be located from an email search, for which we await clarification from you, please advise and further clarify.

When you state “meetings, notes written,” do the records made available this date sufficiently address the intent of this portion of your request?  If not, what identifiable public records do you mean or are you attempting to seek when you state “meetings, notes written”?  Also, when you state audio, do you mean this to mean the audio in body camera records or what audio do you mean or are you attempting to seek?  For instance, by audio, if you are attempting to seek 911 calls, you may wish to make a request of SREC for any such records.  Please note that it is our understanding that 911 calls are generally only maintained for 90 days, however you can confirm this with SREC.  You may utilize the following link to submit a request through SREC’s online public records request portal:

The contact information is as follows:
Spokane Regional Emergency Communications
1620 N. Rebecca St.
Spokane, WA 99217
(509) 532-8911

Please provide the above requested clarifications within 30 days of today’s date, or by February 7, 2022. If no such clarifications are received from you by that date, the remaining portions of your public records request will be considered concluded and closed, and a new request would be required after February 7.
Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist
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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to my January 7, 2022, correspondence to you wherein I sought clarification regarding your public records request assigned tracking number P004354-072821, with any such clarification to be provided to the City Clerk’s Office by February 7, 2022.

As to our knowledge, no such clarification has been received. Section 6.1.3 of the City's Public Records Request Policy and Procedures states, in part, the following:
If the requestor does not provide clarification in response to a request by the Public Records Officer for clarification, within thirty (30) days of the clarification request having been made, the City will consider the request abandoned as to those portion for which clarification was requested but not received, and advise the requestor in writing that the request has been closed as to those portions. Should the requestor, after such closure, provide clarification, his or her clarified request shall be considered a new request and shall be processed as such, and other public records requests can be processed ahead of such a clarified request.

Therefore, we are considering our response to your request to be concluded and closed, and a new request would be required for any remaining records you may still be seeking in this matter.

If you feel there has been any misunderstanding or if we may be of further assistance, please advise.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the

If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal

Dear c. darling:

Thank you for submitting your public records request through The Spokane Public Records Center. We would like to invite you to take a short survey on your experience.

Please click the following link if you would like to participate.
Customer Satisfaction Survey (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HSVD4CrS9uFW2stupoI-2F3P-2FCR9v4w4dDGSabyWOuZGyKOxaNTcvv-2F4ALTGWf3-2FBgaDnMu6wKPaejYq7JYvoIRLTSZwBUPP-2B-2BjlJtGOuEw-2FqBfLLPZdA-2Fqk8h15-2F9-2FZHJK8cba7TvBkZlN1P8LClmCeFCIlLCkIwO4SMp7jp6t5MzvwXw9azOgcikyt6l3wkviQ-3D-3DRgBl_ibRS2aIHgTj7CweWZMhT6fMW0rstapHLM1nsSJBzZraSN5rgaXyaf447-2B1pm27ZCpADksjdMW0rgXu-2F0kmNHHqrvb7fbakwogyPb-2FvTyYbFHdx72eSYOINbj1MtTAGpSs00oylDzXfDjCLY247cZfFJNdrJ6NbaBpJk-2BQXap9Ty0dg29oGzOTODKKKrgVmuf9brM-2FDBSAlsCBSXDzNOn6weSRG87wB1tLK8FqSjes-2FhtZPgfl3m6-2BJuxn5qR6KJh-2F29H4oTKwcXWlz9fE1TOyv3h4sXlUoERkcYK1LBz5B5Tyr9-2FgcVbI8RZzZJqG9848kkcB6bt98iszwY-2FJ5zXPskcRgqkmFWYl7hcAm3LOsOJVBvC9e-2ByPyJOuELYb8LDifJ-2FBj-2FLOWpAJebXq1wxYQ-3D-3D)

We appreciate your feedback.
Thank you.