Use of force (response to resistance) guidance, policies, and data (Springfield Police Department)

Hello-

The responses to your request are outlined in yellow, below. Please let us
know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Captain Brad Moos
Springfield Police Division
130 N. Fountain Av.
Springfield, Ohio 45502
937-324-7676
bmoos@springfieldohio.gov

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 30, 2020 at 6:20 AM
Subject: Ohio Open Records Law Request: Use of force (response to
resistance) guidance, policies, and data (Springfield Police Department)
To: <lgraf@springfieldohio.gov>

Springfield Police Department

Ohio Open Records Law Office
130 N Fountain Ave
Springfield, OH 45502

July 30, 2020

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Ohio Open Records Law, 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.

The Springfield Police Division posts it's entire Rules, Regulations,
Procedure and Policies manual on-line, for the public to review. These
items are all available for download at this link:

https://springfieldohio.gov/springfield-services/police/

Section 1.30- Response to Resistance is in the attached file.

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.

See above.

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.

See above.

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.

See above.

• 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.

See above.

A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report
or track uses of force by this agency.

Attached.

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

Not applicable.

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

Attached.

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

The Springfield Police Division is a member of the Ohio Collaborative. The
standards that are applicable are listed on their website:

https://www.ocjs.ohio.gov/ohiocollaborative/standards.html

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

Not applicable.

• 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

SPD does not maintain an "inventory of video records."

The request for a copy of the captured footage "from all present cameras"
is deemed overly broad. The request does not specify a date range, case
number etc. See below.

Refer to the Ohio Sunshine Laws Manual, page 12, for additional information
concerning overly broad requests.

"The courts have also found a request overly broad
when it seeks what amounts to a complete duplication of a major category of
a public
office’s records. Examples of overly broad requests include requests for:
• Duplication of all records having to do with a particular topic, or all
records of a
particular type;"

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi2jeqQlf_qAhVtQt8KHXiNDIUQFjAAegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ohioattorneygeneral.gov%2FFiles%2FPublications-Files%2FPublications-for-Legal%2FSunshine-Law-Publications%2F2020-Sunshine-Manual_WEB.aspx&usg=AOvVaw1nL55eYJi1I3GUXiOZou__
<https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=ohio+sunshine+laws&ia=web>

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.

Each individual Use of Force Report for the designated period is attached.
SPD does not maintain a csv spreadsheet of this 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

See above.

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.

See above.

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 10
business days.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly:
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For mailed responses, please address (see note)

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 99392
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

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.
Files attached-

MuckRock Public Records Request_07302020.zip
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e3l5jMcPL0yuOWHYFcTX2V369ZHgI8dz/view?usp=drive_web>

Hello-

I did look at your website. It appears that a duplicate request was also
sent to our agency, and you may be expecting a response?

Under the Ohio Sunshine Law duplicate requests generally are not processed.

See page 16, of the Ohio Sunshine Laws Manual.

"c. No obligation to respond to duplicate request
When a public office responds to a request, and the requester sends a
follow-up letter reiterating a
request for essentially the same records, the public office is not required
to provide an additional
response."

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Captain Brad Moos
Springfield Police Division
130 N. Fountain Av.
Springfield, Ohio 45502
937-324-7676
bmoos@springfieldohio.gov