Civil Asset Forfeiture Records - Tempe Police Department

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Arizona Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Tempe Police Department
120 E. 5th Street
Tempe, AZ 85281

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Arizona Public Records Law, A.R.S. §§ 39-121 to 39-122 and 39-128, I hereby request the following records:

Accounting records or statistics on seized real estate, vehicles, firearms, and funds in bank accounts resulting from seizures made by the department, as well as seizures made by federal authorities where the department receives a share of said assets or monies.
Any annual reports produced on the civil asset forfeiture program.
Documents showing the balance of any funds currently in the Civil Asset Forfeiture fund.
Records of itemized expenditure or distribution of funds from the Civil Asset Forfeiture fund.
A list of all items seized through civil asset forfeiture and retained for use by the department.
Please also include any information relating to contested seizures. This request does not include court documents for individual forfeiture cases.
This request covers records for the last 10 years.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

I would like to draw your attention to a few court cases that emphasize the importance of public access to information. In the case of NLRB v. Robbins Tire Co., 437 U.S. 214 (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the basic purpose of FOIA is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society. Additionally, the Arizona Supreme Court has reiterated the importance of the state's public records law for transparency and accountability in Carlson v. Pima County, 141 Ariz. 487 (1984).

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 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Jordan Lassiter

To Whom It May Concern:

Please find enclosed a check for $5.00 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.

Thank you.