River Bottom Rd CAD Reports
| Submitted | Oct. 6, 2023 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Patrick Wells
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Government Records Access and Management Act, I hereby request the following records:
An electronic copy of the CAD reports for all calls for service at 1803 E River Bottom Rd for the time period of January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020.
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.
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,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
Hello,
Your request does not meet the requirements for filing a GRAMA request. I have attached the code that outlines what is required. We are happy to fill your request, we just ask that you fill out the form on our website. This would assure that you are providing all of the necessary information. We have linked our form below.
Thanks!
https://www.springville.org/police/services/request-for-records/
-
~WRD0000
From: Springville Police Department
HI Patrick,
I was just looking over your records request and just wanted to clarify a few things. No our form does not make you pre-authorize costs of "at least $20." It starts at $10-$20. $10 being the cost per police report. $20 being the cost per 911 call, body cam, and photos. We chose those number methodically to match our fee schedule. Per UCA 63G-2-203 Fees "a Government entity may charge a reasonable fee to cover the governmental entity's actual cost of providing a record."
We have added the pre-authorization section on our online forms as some people fill them out without ever speaking with us or looking at the fee schedule. Having this section on the form assures that the public understands that there is a corresponding fee with requesting records.
In regards to your specific records request, there will be a fee of $10. Please let us know if you would like us to give you a call to complete payment and we will send you your police report.
Thanks!
[cid:image002.png@01D9FD06.3BE64C80]
From: Patrick Wells
Ms. Mendell,
I appreciate your timely response and the fee details. Regarding the fee waiver request submitted in the form, has a decision been made? If necessary, I can provide further evidence to underscore the records' significance to a story of paramount public interest.
Thank you,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
We are declining to waive fees in regards to any of the Franke reports. This is to keep it impartial for every media outlet that is interested in receiving information from our department.
Thanks!
-
~WRD2004
From: Patrick Wells
Good afternoon,
How do I go about paying the fee?
Thanks,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
We do payment over the phone. The records clerk that is in charge of payments however, will not be back in the office until tomorrow. I can have her give you a call and do payment with you. In the meantime, we will need a copy of your ID to verify your name with the request.
Thanks!
-
~WRD1990
From: Patrick Wells
Good morning,
Driver's license: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zrzvHOqyV0IfWCdkkh3LxMYeCTZD_HqM/
The records clerk can call me anytime today. Thanks,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
Please see the attached report.
-
~WRD0001
From: Patrick Wells
Good morning,
Thank you for your prompt attention to my recent GRAMA request concerning CAD reports for a specific address within a stipulated time period. However, it appears there has been a misunderstanding regarding the scope of my request.
My initial request sought CAD reports for each response to the specified address during the time period in question. The record you provided is a summary of the CAD reports available, and while it is informative, it does not fulfill the request as intended.
To clarify, I am seeking the complete CAD reports for each call, which would typically include CAD notes, unit assignments, response times, and any other pertinent details. I understand that there may be redactions for sensitive information, but the objective here is to receive a comprehensive view of each individual event rather than a summarized list.
I understand this was a simple miscommunication on the intent of the request and just wish to receive the intended records. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
Oh I must have misread the context on that. I will start preparing the full CAD logs.
Thanks
-
~WRD0004
From: Springville Police Department
HI Patrick,
We have collected all of those records for you. The total price is going to be $112.20. Please let us know when it would be a good time to give you a call to do payment over the phone.
Thanks!
-
~WRD0000
From: Patrick Wells
Good morning,
Can you please provide an itemized invoice?
Thanks,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
We don’t invoice for reports. This is all we have to calculate costs. I would like to add, our staff time cost has actually increased to $27.10. I am only charging you half of the $24.41 which is our original staff time cost, as that was the cost at the time when I did the first Franke request.
Thanks!
-
~WRD0001
From: Patrick Wells
The provided billing sheet is exactly what I was looking for, thank you.
I would like to request the re-consideration of the fees associated with this GRAMA request.
Firstly, it seems there may be a misunderstanding about the classification of CAD reports. These are not the same as "police reports," and should not be billed as such. CAD reports are generally communication logs generated automatically during the course of a dispatcher’s duty, often with minimal intervention from human personnel. Charging $10 per CAD report as if they were comprehensive police reports seems inconsistent with your city’s comprehensive fee schedule. The listed staff time of one half hour only further emphasizes the point that the fee quoted is unreasonable.
Secondly, I believe that my request serves a significant public interest. The records I seek are pertinent to a story of great importance to the community, and their release would contribute to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government. As such, I believe a fee waiver would be appropriate in this case, and your refusal based on maintaining impartiality among media outlets does not seem to align with the spirit or letter of GRAMA.
Given the above factors, I kindly request that the fees associated with my GRAMA request be re-considered and waived. If this is not possible, I would like to escalate this matter and request the contact information for the Chief Administrative Officer for the Springville Police Department for a formal appeal.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
HI Patrick,
I do understand the difference between a CAD report and a police report. Though they aren’t the same thing, they cost the same, as we go through the same retrieval, redaction and certification process. With this being a decently large request of 10 reports, the 30 minutes is very fair, if not less time than usual. For out of state media representatives, per GRAMA code 63G-2-203(5), we start charging for our time as soon as we start working on the request. I have attached a screenshot that shows the timer for your request, with this email in the background. We receive many requests regarding the same cases daily. Everyone has understood the significance of us charging the fees to keep impartial for every media outlet, large or small. I hope you can understand where we are coming from, by wanting to give each media outlet the equal opportunity to obtain these records. If you change your mind on paying the fees, please let me know and we can do payment and I will get the reports sent over immediately. I have inserted the appeal instructions below.
“…following the procedures in UCA §63G-2-401. Please be sure to attach your initial request and denial letter when appealing. You may submit a request for appeal to the City Recorder, via mail at 110 S Main, Springville, UT 84663 within 30 days or via email at kcrane@springville.org.”
From: Patrick Wells
Ms. Crane,
I am writing to formally appeal the fee imposed by the Springville Police Department in response to my Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) request dated 10/9/23. The communications associated with this request are attached below this message. The fees imposed by Springville Police Dept, along with my contact information, are included in an attachment.
The request sought an electronic copy of the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) reports for all calls for service at 1803 E River Bottom Rd for the time period of January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2020. The Springville Police Department has classified CAD reports as "police reports," consequently levying a charge exceeding $100 based on the city's comprehensive fee schedule, which stipulates a $10 charge per police report.
First, I contend that CAD reports should not be classified as police reports. CAD reports are primarily data-driven, capturing basic information about calls for service, and are generally not completed by police officers. They differ significantly from police reports, which are narrative and provide detailed accounts of incidents. The reclassification and charging for each CAD report as a police report is not only misrepresentative but also unduly increases the cost of obtaining these public records, contrary to the spirit of GRAMA which aims to promote transparency and ease of access to public records.
Additionally, I request that the fees associated with this GRAMA request be waived entirely, given the significant public interest surrounding the events at the aforementioned address. The Springville Police Department’s rationale to decline a fee waiver to maintain impartiality across media outlets is flawed. Impartiality is not achieved by denying fee waivers to all, but rather, would be accomplished through the provision of fee waivers to all media outlets, thereby leveling the playing field and truly adhering to the spirit of GRAMA which encourages public access to information. Utah’s GRAMA, under Section 63G-2-203(4)(a), encourages fee waivers when releasing the records primarily benefits the public rather than a person. I assert that the routine denial of fee waivers based not on the merits of the request, but on a mistaken believe that this encourages impartiality, is in violation of GRAMA. The national discourse surrounding the incidents in question unmistakably demonstrates that the release of these records primarily serves the public interest.
Therefore, in alignment with the provisions and the spirit of GRAMA, I strongly appeal for a full waiver of the fees associated with this request or, at the very least, a significant reduction by reclassifying the CAD reports and charging only for staff time.
I am willing to discuss this appeal further at your convenience. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
Attached is a copy of our Response to your GRAMA request.
Thanks,
[cid:image001.png@01D88C64.57223EF0]
-
image001
From: Patrick Wells
Good evening,
Please see attached for my notice of appeal. All correspondence with the agency up to today's date can be found at the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Djr4LGx4TnQGNgAMp4w3sZ_liScoUZMz/
After opening the above link, select the download icon on the top right.
I look forward to your response. Thank you,
Sincerely,
Patrick Wells
From: Patrick Wells
Good evening,
Please see attached for a copy of my notice of appeal to the State Records Committee.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wells
-
018_2023-10-30_02_41_54.19198000_00_comm.txt
From: Springville Police Department
Good morning,
Attached are two letters scheduling an appeal hearing before the State
Records Committee. If you have any questions, please let me know. The
hearing is scheduled out a few months, so I encourage both parties to work
with the Government Records Ombudsman in the meantime. Her contact
information is in the attached letter.
Regards,
~Rebekkah
--
Rebekkah Shaw
Utah Department of Government Operations
Division of Archives and Records Service
Executive Secretary, State Records Committee
801-531-3851
<https://archives.utah.gov/>
<https://www.facebook.com/utahstatearchives>
<https://twitter.com/UtahArchives>
<https://www.instagram.com/utaharchives/>
From: Patrick Wells
Good morning Ms. Krane,
In response to our mediation, I have agreed to pay $36 for 6 of the requested CAD reports. The records I am requesting are:
C5149278
C5149383
C5703209
C5893759
C6332059
C6528133
You can charge my previous method of payment if it is still on file, or call me at your convenience today for payment.
Thanks,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
A fix is required to perfect the request. Postmark: October 30, 2023
From: Patrick Wells
Good morning,
I just wanted to follow-up on the updated request for the 6 CAD records. Payment was provided to Ms. Crane yesterday, I just wanted to get an idea before the weekend of when I can expect the records to be provided?
Thanks,
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
We send the reports to the email you provided for your receipt.
Thanks
-
~WRD0003
From: Patrick Wells
Good afternoon,
I just found it, it had been marked as spam for some reason. Thanks for letting me know!
Patrick Wells
From: Springville Police Department
Records attached.
From: Patrick Wells
Hi Rebekkah,
This case was resolved in mediation. I will withdraw the appeal. Thank you,
Patrick Wells
Files
pages