Use of force (response to resistance) guidance, policies, and data (Spokane Police Department)
| Tracking # |
P003095-073120 |
| Multi Request | Use of force (response to resistance) guidance, policies, and data |
| Submitted | July 29, 2020 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records related to this agency's policies on and reporting of uses of force and responses to resistance:
• Policies.
Any and all policies guiding appropriate and inappropriate uses of force by any member or representative of this agency. These may also include “Response to Resistance” policies and similar guidance.
Please also provide all policies regarding the use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons (for example: TASERs pepper ball guns, rubber bullets, gases, sprays, water, etc.), including all policies regarding borrowing, accessing, or assuming responsibility for such weapons, tools, and ammunition.
Please also provide all policies or guidance related to reporting or tracking discharges from or uses of such weapons, as well as any other applicable policies or directives related to the acquisition, use, and reporting of weapons or tools.
Please also provide all policies and guidance used to evaluate any use of force or adjudicate administrative and internal investigations into any use of force or weapon discharge.
• Instructions for reporting. Any and all instructions and guidance related to the reporting of uses of force by any member or representative of this agency.
• Forms, coding descriptions, and other guidance.
All forms, codes, guides, and guidance used in the reporting and review of uses of force or weapons, including:
Any list of codes or definitions for terms or tags used in the reporting, collection, or review of uses of force.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track uses of force by this agency.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track the borrowing or use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track any discharge of force from firearms, tools, or weapons employed by this agency
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the state, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the federal government, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
• Use of Force Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on the each use of force by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Incident details: incident or other unique identification number for the use of force incident
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Body camera or other footage: Inventory of any video record was created of the incident and/or a copy of the captured footage from all present cameras
Disposition of investigation into the incident: The current or final status of each use of force incident, including whether challenges to the use of force were sustained or dismissed or if the incident had no or is currently under investigation
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
• Discharge Report Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on each discharge of a firearm and other weapons by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Incident description and details
Tool or weapon used, including any unique identifier or identification number
Number of discharges
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Disposition or status of any investigation or follow-up review of the incident
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
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. There is no commercial interest in the submission of this request or the release of these records.
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: Spokane Police Department
Beryl Lipton
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 31, 2020 and given the reference number P003095-073120 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 related to this agency's policies on and reporting of uses of force and responses to resistance:
• Policies.
Any and all policies guiding appropriate and inappropriate uses of force by any member or representative of this agency. These may also include “Response to Resistance” policies and similar guidance.
Please also provide all policies regarding the use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons (for example: TASERs pepper ball guns, rubber bullets, gases, sprays, water, etc.), including all policies regarding borrowing, accessing, or assuming responsibility for such weapons, tools, and ammunition.
Please also provide all policies or guidance related to reporting or tracking discharges from or uses of such weapons, as well as any other applicable policies or directives related to the acquisition, use, and reporting of weapons or tools.
Please also provide all policies and guidance used to evaluate any use of force or adjudicate administrative and internal investigations into any use of force or weapon discharge.
• Instructions for reporting. Any and all instructions and guidance related to the reporting of uses of force by any member or representative of this agency.
• Forms, coding descriptions, and other guidance.
All forms, codes, guides, and guidance used in the reporting and review of uses of force or weapons, including:
Any list of codes or definitions for terms or tags used in the reporting, collection, or review of uses of force.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track uses of force by this agency.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track the borrowing or use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track any discharge of force from firearms, tools, or weapons employed by this agency
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the state, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the federal government, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
• Use of Force Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on the each use of force by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Incident details: incident or other unique identification number for the use of force incident
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Body camera or other footage: Inventory of any video record was created of the incident and/or a copy of the captured footage from all present cameras
Disposition of investigation into the incident: The current or final status of each use of force incident, including whether challenges to the use of force were sustained or dismissed or if the incident had no or is currently under investigation
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
• Discharge Report Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on each discharge of a firearm and other weapons by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Incident description and details
Tool or weapon used, including any unique identifier or identification number
Number of discharges
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Disposition or status of any investigation or follow-up review of the incident
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
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. There is no commercial interest in the submission of this request or the release of these records.
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
Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAkCQvfq8VnApElWp9_3Juyw3A%3A1k1RqG%3A080Cnyoep4Byefn-dae7-Ww5mDY&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fspokane-police-department-717%252Fuse-of-force-response-to-resistance-guidance-policies-and-data-spokane-police-department-99320%252F%253Femail%253Dspdrecordsinforequest%252540spokanepolice.org
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
From: Spokane Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
This is an auto-generated email. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this email. A new message has been added to a public records request submitted by you. If you wish to submit a response, update the request, check the status, or submit a new public records request, please do so through your "My Request Center" account on the City's public records request center.
In accordance with the Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56.520, this message acknowledges receipt of your two PRA requests, received by the City of Spokane on July 31, 2020. Your requests appear to be identical. One request has been assigned tracking number P003095-073120 and the other request has been assigned tracking number P003114-073120. Please use these numbers in any communications concerning this request.
Specifically, you requested: To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records related to this agency's policies on and reporting of uses of force and responses to resistance:
• Policies.
Any and all policies guiding appropriate and inappropriate uses of force by any member or representative of this agency. These may also include “Response to Resistance” policies and similar guidance.
Please also provide all policies regarding the use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons (for example: TASERs pepper ball guns, rubber bullets, gases, sprays, water, etc.), including all policies regarding borrowing, accessing, or assuming responsibility for such weapons, tools, and ammunition.
Please also provide all policies or guidance related to reporting or tracking discharges from or uses of such weapons, as well as any other applicable policies or directives related to the acquisition, use, and reporting of weapons or tools.
Please also provide all policies and guidance used to evaluate any use of force or adjudicate administrative and internal investigations into any use of force or weapon discharge.
• Instructions for reporting. Any and all instructions and guidance related to the reporting of uses of force by any member or representative of this agency.
• Forms, coding descriptions, and other guidance.
All forms, codes, guides, and guidance used in the reporting and review of uses of force or weapons, including:
Any list of codes or definitions for terms or tags used in the reporting, collection, or review of uses of force.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track uses of force by this agency.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track the borrowing or use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track any discharge of force from firearms, tools, or weapons employed by this agency
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the state, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the federal government, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
• Use of Force Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on the each use of force by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Incident details: incident or other unique identification number for the use of force incident
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Body camera or other footage: Inventory of any video record was created of the incident and/or a copy of the captured footage from all present cameras
Disposition of investigation into the incident: The current or final status of each use of force incident, including whether challenges to the use of force were sustained or dismissed or if the incident had no or is currently under investigation
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
• Discharge Report Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on each discharge of a firearm and other weapons by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Incident description and details
Tool or weapon used, including any unique identifier or identification number
Number of discharges
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Disposition or status of any investigation or follow-up review of the incident
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
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. There is no commercial interest in the submission of this request or the release of these records.
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
Your requests have been forwarded to staff in the City's Police Department for review and searching/compiling of any responsive records.
At this time, we reasonably anticipate making a first installment of records available to you in approximately 45 days, or by on or about September 21, 2020. 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. If clarification of your request is needed as we proceed, we will let you know.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
From: Spokane Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
This is an auto-generated email. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this email. A new message has been added to a public records request submitted by you. If you wish to submit a response, update the request, check the status, or submit a new public records request, please do so through your "My Request Center" account on the City's public records request center.
Mr. Lipton:
This is a follow up to my August 7, 2020, response to you pertaining to your public records request assigned PRR tracking number P003095-073120. As a first installment of records to your request, you may view the "Spokane Police Department's 2019 Comprehensive Analysis of Reviewable Use of Force Incidents" on the City's website at the following link: https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/police/accountability/2019-spd-annual-use-of-force-comprehensive-analysis.pdf.
As I indicated in my August 7 response, your request was forwarded to Police staff for review. Clarification of your request is needed to enable Police staff to proceed with compiling remaining responsive records to your request. When you state "use of force" or "uses of force," do you mean uses of force as it pertains to the use of weapons and munitions only or do you mean all types of force? Please clarify. Please provide any such clarification with 30 days of today's date, or by October 5, 2020. If we have not heard from you by this date, we will consider your request abandoned, and will subsequently close it.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
From: Spokane Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
This is an auto-generated email. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this email. A new message has been added to a public records request submitted by you. If you wish to submit a response, update the request, check the status, or submit a new public records request, please do so through your "My Request Center" account on the City's public records request center.
Mr. Lipton:
This is a follow up to the message I just sent to you regarding your public records request assigned P003095-073120. I intended my response to also pertain to your public records request assigned P003114-073120.
In addition, I wanted to relay that once clarification of your request is received, we anticipate making a next installment of records available to you in approximately 60 days from the date of your clarification. Once clarification is received, if this estimated time frame requires modification, I will let you know.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
From: Spokane Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
This is an auto-generated email. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this email. A new message has been added to a public records request submitted by you. If you wish to submit a response, update the request, check the status, or submit a new public records request, please do so through your "My Request Center" account on the City's public records request center.
Mr. Lipton:
This is a follow up to my messages to you on September 4, 2020, pertaining to your public records request assigned tracking numbers P003095-073120 and P003114-073120.
Under my September 4 response, I requested clarification of your requests and that any such clarification be provided by October 5, 2020. As indicated in my response, since no clarification from you has been received by the October 5 date as specified in my response, we are considering the remainder of your two requests abandoned, and your two requests are now closed.
If you feel there has been any misunderstanding or if you feel have overlooked anything in responding to your requests, or if we may be of additional assistance, please advise.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
From: Spokane Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
This is an auto-generated email. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this email. A new message has been added to a public records request submitted by you. If you wish to submit a response, update the request, check the status, or submit a new public records request, please do so through your "My Request Center" account on the City's public records request center.
Mr. Lipton:
This is a follow up to my communications to you on October 21 and On September 4, 2020, pertaining to your public records requests assigned tracking numbers P003095-073120 and P003114-073120. I discovered as I was closing out your request that I inadvertently overlooked providing you the link to the Spokane Police Department Policy Manual, which you can find by visiting the following link: https://my.spokanecity.org/police/accountability/ or https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/police/accountability/police-policy-manual-2020-09-02.pdf. You may find this manual or portions of it as responsive to your request.
As previously indicated under my October 21 message to you, as no clarification from you has been received, we have closed out your requests. If we may be of further assistance, please advise.
Sincerely,
Terri Pfister
City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
Files
pages